licet nos vel heredi nostri sit una pars Et ulterius de habundanciori gratia nostra concessimus praefato Francisco quod si ipse ad aliqua officia superdict seu aliquod praemissorum eligat ipseque officia superdict recusavit extunc idem Franciscus aliquem contemptum depâ—…rdit poenam fortisfitur aut aliquos exutos fines redemptiones seu amerciament quaecunque occasione omissionis sive non omissionis aut alicujus eorundem nullatenus incurrat fortisfaciat aut perdet sed quod praesens carta nostra de exemptione coram quibuscunque justic nostris hered nostr ac in quocunque loco aut curia de record per totum regnum nostrum praedict super demonstratione ejusdem chartae nostrae absque aliquo brevi praecept seu mandat aut aliquo alio superinde habend seu persequend vel aliqua proclamatione faciend praefato Francisco allocetur Concessimus etiam per praesentes concedimus eidem Francisco quod ipse de cetero durante vita sua in praesentia nostra aut hered nostrorum aut in praesentia alicujus sive aliquorum magnatum dominorum spiritualium vel temporalium aut aliquorum aliorum regni nostri quorumcunque quibuscunque temporibus futuris pilio sit coopertus capite non exuat aut deponat pilium suum à capite suo occasione vel causa quacunque contra voluntatem aut placitum suum ideo vobis omnibus singulis aut quibuscunque Justic. Judicibus Vicomitibus Escaetoribus Coronatoribus Majoribus praepositis Balivis aliis officiariis ministris nostris hered nostrâ—…rum firmiter injungendo mandamus quod ipsum Franciscum contra hanc concessionem nostr contra tenorem exegent aut effect praesent non vexetis perturb molest in aliquo seu gravetis In cujus reitestim has literas nostras fieri fecimus Patentes Teste meipso apud Westm. sexto die Julii anno regni nostri decimo octavo Per ipsum Regem de dat praedict authoritate Parliamenti Tolethorpe the chief place of residence at this day of Christopher Browne Esquire who hath born the office of Sheriff in this County 1647. was by Deed conveyed unto John Browne from Thomas Burton Knight in the fiftieth year of King Edward the third I meet with a Browne Lord Mayor of London 1479. the son of John Browne of Oakham The Farewell Let not the Inhabitants of Rutland complain that they are pinned up within the confines of a narrow County seeing the goodness thereof equals any Shire in England for fertility of ground But rather let them thank God who hath cast their lot into so pleasant a place giving them a goodly heritage SHROP-SHIRE hath Cheshire on the North Staffordshire on the East Worcester Hereford and Radnorshires on the South Montgomery and Denbighshires on the West The length thereof from North to South is 34 Miles and the generall breadth thereof about 26 Miles I behold it really though not so Reputed the biggest Lund-lock-shire in England For although according to Mr. Speeds mea-suring it gathereth but one hundred thirty four miles short of Wiltshireby five in Circumference Yet though less in compasse it may be more in Content as lesse angular in my eye and more approaching to a Circle the form of greatest capacity A large and lovely County generally fair and fruitful affording Grasse Grain and all things necessary for Mans sustenance but chiefly abounding with Naturall Commodities Iron It is the most impure of all Metals hardly meltable but with Additaments yea malleable and ductible with difficulty Not like that at Damascus which they refine in such sort that it will melt at a Lamp and yet so tough that it will hardly break Some impute the grossenesse of our English Iron to our water not so proper for that purpose as in Spain and other parts and the Poet telleth us of Turnus his Sword Ensem quem Dauno igni potens Deus ipse parenti Fecerat Stygia candentem extinxerat unda Sword which god Vulcan did for Daunus fixe And quenched it when firy hot in Stix However many Vtensils are made of the Iron of this County to the great profit of the Owners and no losse I hope of the Common-wealth Coale One may observe a threefold difference in our English-Coale 1 Sea-coale brought from Newcastle 2 Land-coale at Mendip Bedworth c. and carted into other Counties 3 What one may call River or Fresh-water-Coale digged out in this County at such a distance from Severne that they are easily ported by Boat into other Shires O ifthis COALE could be so charcked as to make Iron melt out of the Stone as it maketh it in Smiths Forges to be wrought in the Bars But Rome was not built all in one day and a NEW WORLD of Experiments is left to the discovery of Posterity Manufactures This County can boast of no one her ORIGINAL but may be glad of one to her DERIVATIVE viz. the VVelsh-Freeses brought to Oswastre the staple of that commodity as hereafter â—…hall be observed The Buildings No County in England hath such a heap of Castles together insomuch that Shropshire may seeme on the VVest divided from VVales with a VVall of continued Castles It is much that Mr. Speed which alloweth but one hundred eighty six in all England accounteth two and thirty in this County But as Great Guns so usefull in the side of a ship are uselesse in the middle thereof so these Castles formerly serviceable whilst Shropshire was the verge of English Dominions are now neglected this Shire being almost in the middest of England since VVales was peaceably annexed thereunto As for the Houses of the Gentry of this County as many of them are fair and handsome so none amount to an extraordinary Eminence Medicinall Waters There is a Spring at Pitch-ford in this Shire which hath an oily unctuous matter swimming upon the water thereof Indeed it is not in such plenty as in a River neer to Solos in Cilicia so full of that liquid substance that such as wash therein seem anointed with Oile nor so abundant as in the Springs neer the Cape of S. Helen wherewith as Josephus Acosta reports men use to pitch their Ropes and Tackling I know not whether the sanative virtue thereof hath been experimented but am sure that if it be Bitumen it is good to comfort the Nerves supple the Joynts drye up Rheumes cure Palsies and Contractions I have nothing more to say of Bitumen but that great the affinity thereof is with Sulphur save that Sulphur hath ingression into Mettal and Bitumen none at all Here I purposely passe by Okenyate in this County where are Allum springs whereof the Dyers of Shrewsbury make use instead of Allum Proverbs He that fetcheth a VVife from Shrewsbury must cary her into Staffordshire or else shall live in Cumberland The Staple-wit of this vulgar Proverb consisting solely in similitude of sound is scarce
been found within them Hops In latine Lupulus or the little-wolf which made a merry man complain that this Wolf did too often devour the innocent Malt in beer Gerard observes they grow best in those Countries where Vines will not grow intimating that nature pointeth at their use therein They are not so bitter in themselves as others have been against them accusing Hops for noxious preserving beer but destroying those who drink it These plead the Petition presented in Parliament in the raign of King Henry the sixth against the wicked weed called Hopps Their back-friends also affirm the Stone never so epidemicall in England as since the generall reception and use of Hops in the beginning of King Henry the eighth But Hops have since out-grown and over-topped all these accusations being adjudged wholesome if Statutable and unmixed with any powder dust dross sand or other soyl whatsoever which made up two parts of three in forraign Hops formerly imported hither They delight most in moist grounds no commodity starteth so soon and sinketh so suddainly in the price whence some will have them so named from hopping in a little time betwixt a great distance in valuation In a word as Elephants if orderly were themselves enough alone to gain if disorderly to lose a victory so great parcells of this commodity well or ill bought in the Crisis of their price are enough to raise or ruine an estate Puits There is an Island of some two hundred Acres near Harwick in the Parish of LittleOkeley in the Mannour of Matthew Gilly Esquire called the Puit Island from Puits in effect the sole inhabitants thereof Some affirm them called in Latine Upulae whilst others maintain that the Roman Language doth not reach the Name nor Land afford the Bird. On Saint George his day precisely they pitch on the Island seldome laying fewer then four or more then six Eggs. Great their love to their Young ones For though against foul weather they make to the main land a certain Prognostick of Tempests yet they always Weather it out in the Island when hatching their young ones seldome sleeping whilst they â—…it on their Eggs afraid it seems of Spring-tides which signifieth nothing as to securing their Eggs from the Inundation but is an Argument of their great Affection Being young they consist onely of Bones Feathers and Lean-flesh which hath a raw Gust of the Sea But Roulterers take them then and feed them with Gravel and Curds that is Physick and Food the one to scour the other to fat them in a fortnight and their flesh thus recruted is most delicious Here I say nothing of Eringo Roots growing in this County the candying of them being become a Staple commodity at Colchester These are Soveraign to strengthen the Nerves and pity it is that any vigor acquired by them should be otherwise imployed then to the Glory of God Manufactures This County is charactred like the good wife described by Bathshebah She layeth her hand to the spindle and her hands hold the distaffe Bays and Says and Serges and severall sorts of Stuffes which I neither can or doe desire to name are made in and about Colchester Coxal Dedham c. I say desire not to name because hoping that new kinds will daily be invented as good reason and by their Inventers intituled I know not whether it be better to wish them good Wares to Vent or good Vent for their Wares but I am sure that both together are the best It will not be amiss to pray that the Plough may go along and wheel around that so being fed by the one and clothed by the other there may be by Gods blessing no danger of starving in our Nation Gun-Powder Why hereof in this rather then in other Counties Because more made by Mills of late erected on the river Ley betwixt Waltham and London then in all England besides Though some suppose it as antient as Archimedes in Europe and antienter in India yet generally men behold the Frier of Mentz the first founder thereof some three hundred years since It consisteth of three essentiall ingredients 1. Brimstone whose office is to catch fire and flame of a suddain and convey it to the other two 2. Char-coal pulveriz'd which continueth the fire and quencheth the flame which otherwise would consume the strength thereof 3. Salt-petre which causeth a windy exhalation and driveth forth the bullet This Gun-powder is the embleme of politick revenge for it biteth first and barketh afterwards the bullet being at the mark before the report is heard so that it maketh a noise not by way of warning but triumph As for white powder which is reported to make no report at all I never could meet with Artist who would seriously avouch it For though perchance the noise may be less and lower yet no sound at all is inconsistent with the nature of Salt-petre and the ventosity thereof causing the violent explosion of the bullet It is questionable whether the making of Gun-powder be more profitable or more dangerous the Mills in my Parish having been five times blown up within seven years but blessed be God without the loss of any one mans life The Buildings This County hath no Cathedrall and the Churches therein cannot challenge to themselves any eminent commendation But as for privaâ—…e houses Essex will own no Shire her superior whereof three most remarkable 1. Audley-End built by Thomas Howard Earl of Suffolk and Treasurer of England as without compare the best Subjects house in this Island Yet is the structure better then the standing thereof as low on one side so that it may pass for the embleme of modest merit or concealed worth meaner houses boasting more and making greater show afar off in the eyes of passengers 2. New Hall built by the Ratcliffs Earls of Sussex but bought from them by George Villiers Duke of Buckingham surpassing for the pleasant shady approach thereunto and for the appurtenances of Parks round about it 3. Copt Hall in Records Coppice-Hall from the Woods thereabouts highly seated on an hill in the mid'st of a Park built by the Abbot of Waltham enlarg'd by Sir Thomas Heneage and others and it is much that multiform fancies should all meet in so uniform a fabrick Herein a Gallery as well furnish'd as most more proportionable then any in England and on this a story doth depend In the year of our Lord 1639. in November here happened an Hirecano or wild wind which entring in at the great East-window blew that down and carried some part thereof with the picture of the Lord Coventry singled from many more which hung on both â—…ides untouch'd all the length of the Gallery being about 56. yards out of the West-window which it threw down to the ground It seems the wind finding this room in form of a trunk and coarctated therein forced the stones of the first window like pellets clean thorough it I mention this the rather because pious
minima Indeed it is but the Pestel of a Lark which is better than a quarter of some bigger bird having the most cleanly profit in it No place so fair for the Rider being more fruitful for the Abider therein Banâ—…shing the fable of King Rott and their fond conceit who will have Rutland so called from Roet the French word for a Wheel from the rotundity thereof being in form almost exactly orbicular it is so termed quasi Red-land for as if Nature kept a Dye-vat herein a reddish tincture discoloureth the earth stones yea the very flieces of the sheep feeding therein If the Rabbins observation be true who distinguish betwixt Arets the general element of the earth and Adamah red ground from which Adam was taken and named making the later the former refined Rutlands soil on the same reason may lay claim to more than ordinary purity and perfection Buildings Burgley on the Hill belonged formerly to the Lords Harrington but since so beautified with buildings by the Duke of Buckingham that it was inferiour to few for the House superiour to all for the Stable where horses if their pabulum so plenty as their stabulum stately were the best accommodated in England But alas what saith Menedemus to Chremas in the Comedy Filium unicum adolescentulum habeo Ah quid dixi habere me immo habui so may Rutland say I have yea I had one most magnificent house this Burgley being since demolished in our Civil war so just was the Poets ancient Invective 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mars Mars bane of men slaughter-stain'd spoiler of houses But when we have first sufficiently bemoned the loss of so many worthy men in our late war if then we have still any sorrow left and tears to spare we will spend them in lamenting the razing and ruining of so many stately structures Wonders How it will appear to the Reader I know not but it is wonderful in my apprehension that this County so pleasant so fruitful almost in the middle of England had not one absolute or entire Abby therein producing onely two small appurtenances of inconsiderable value to Convents in other Counties viz. Okehame under the custody of the Priory of St. Anne by Coventry founded by William Dalby for two Chaplains and twelve poor receiving in all one and twenty pounds per annum Brook a Cell to Killingworth founded by Walkeline de Ferrers Baron of Okeham for black Canons valued at the dissolution at fourty three pounds thirteen shillings and four pence The like cannot be parallell'd in England chuse so great a parcel of good ground where you please Shew me so fair a bunch of sweet grapes which had no more flies to suck them Nor can I conjecture any competent cause thereof except because Edward the Confessor by his Will gave all Rutland to Westminster Church which though rescinded by King William the Conqueror yet other Convents perchance might be scrupulous to accept what once belonged to another Foundation Proverbs Rutland Raddleman I meet in an Author with this blazon as he termes it of Rutland-shire though I can scarcely recover the meaning thereof Rad here is the same with red onely more broadly pronounced as Radcliffe de rubro clivo Redcliffe Raddleman then is a Reddleman a Trade and that a poor one onely in this County whence men bring on their backs a pack of red stone or Oker which they sell to their neighbouring Countries for the marking of sheep well nigh as â—…scernable and far less hurtful to the wooll as Pitch-brands made on their flieces Saints St. Tibba Because this County is Princeless I mean affords no Royal Nativities we begin with Saints and here almost we are at a loss finding but one worshipped therein and probably a Native thereof But seriously peruse I pray the words of our Author speaking of Rihall a Village in this County VVhere when superstition had so bewitched our Anchestours that the multitude of their pety Saints had well neere taken quite away the true God one Tibba a pety Saint or Goddesse reputed to be the tutelar patronesse of Hawking was of Fowlers and Falconers worshipped as a second Diana This Saint of Falconers doth stive so high into the air that my Industry cannot flye home after the same so as to give a good account thereof to the Reader All that I can retrive of her is digested into these following particulars 1. She was a Female whose sex dubious in the English is cleared in the Latine Cambden Tibba minorum gentium Sancta 2. Though gentium may import something of Heathenism Sancta carries it cleer for Christianity that she was no Pagan Deity amongst the Britons who were not our Ancestors but Predecessors but a Popish she-Saint amongst the Saxons 3. She could not be St. Ebba a Virgin Saint of whom formerly in Northumberland whom the Country-people nick-name Tabbs for St. Ebbs. 4. My best inquiry making use of mine own and friends industry perusing Authors proper to this purpose cannot meet with this Tibb with all our industry But I will trouble my self and the Reader no longer with this Saint which if she will not be found even for me let her be lost onely observe after that superstition had appointed Saints to all Vocations St. Luke to Painters St. Crispin to Shoomakers c. she then began to appoint Patrons to Recreations and surely Falconers generally according to the Popish principles if any need a Saint both to protect them in their despeâ—…are Riding and pray for a pardon for their profane oaths in their passions A Post-script 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at last we have found it She was no Pagan Deity but a Saxon Saint as plainly appeareth because the passage concerning her is commanded to be expung'd out of Cambden by the Index expurgatorius bearing a Pique thereat as grating against their superstitious practice The same no doubt with Tibba Virgin and Anchoress who living at Dormundcaster dyed with the reputation of holiness about the year 660. However Reader I am not ashamed to suffer my former doubts and disquisitions still to stand though since arrived at better information Benefactors to the Publick WILLIAM BROWNE Esq twice Alderman of Stamford Merchant of the Staple was as I am credibly informed extracted from the ancient Family of Brownes of Tâ—…llThorp in this County He built on his own proper cost the beautiful Steeple with a great part of the Church of All-Saints in Stamford and lyeth therein with his wife buried in a Chappel proper to his Family He also erected Anno 1493. the old Bead-house in that Town for a Warden Confrater twelve poor old men with a Nurse-woman to attend them To this he gave the Manor of Swayfeld seven miles from Stamford worth four hundred pounds per annum besides divers Lands and Tenements elsewhere I am loth to insert and loth to omit what followeth in my Author viz. That the pious and liberal gift is
The Graver here hath well thy Face design'd But no hand FULLER can expresse thy Mind For That a RESURRECTION giues to those Whom Silent Monuments did long enclose THE HISTORY OF THE WORTHIES OF ENGLAND VVho for Parts and Learning have been eminent in the several COUNTIES TOGETHER WITH An Historical NARRATIVE of the Native Commodities and Rarities in each County Endeavoured by Thomas Fuller D. D. LONDON Printed by J. G. W. L. and W. G. for Thomas Williams and are to be sold at the sign of the Bible in Little Britain MDCLXII TO HIS Sacred Majesty Most Dread Soveraign THE tender of these ensuing Collections is made with as much Fear and Reverence as it was intended with Duty and Devotion by the Author whilest living The Obligation that lieth upon me to endeavour him all right forced me unto this presumption It is the first voice I ever uttered in this kind and I hope it will be neither displeasing to Your MAJESTY or blamed by the VVorld whilest not unlike that of the Son of Croesus it sounds Loyalty to my Soveraign and Duty to my Father The matter of this Work for the most part is the description of such native and peculiar Commodities as the several Counties of Your Kingdom afford with a revival of the Memories of such Persons which have in each County been eminent for Parts or Learning If this Age abound with the like it is their Glory if not the perusal may perhaps beget in them a Noble Emulation of their Ancestors May Your MAJESTIES Raign be Happy and Long to see Your Countries COMMODITIES improved and Your WORTHIES multiplied So prayeth Your MAJESTIES meanest Subject the Authors Orphan JOHN FULLER To the Reader READER THou hast here presented to thy view a Collection of the VVorthies of England which might have appeared larger had God spared my dear Father the Author life At his death there remained unprinted the Bishoprick of Durham the Counties of Derby Dorset Gloucester Norfolk Northampton Northumberland Nottingham Oxford Rutland with part of Kent Devonshire and the Cities of London and Westminster which now at length according to the Copy the Author left behind him without the least Addition are made publick It is needless here to acquaint thee with the nature of the Work it being already fully set down in the first sixteen sheets thereof Yet thou mayst be pleased to take notice that although the Title promiseth thee only the History of the Worthies of England in the end there is added a short Description of the Principality of Wales The discounting of Sheets to expedite the Work at severall Presses hath occasioned the often mistake of the Folio's What ever faults else occur in this Impression it is my request that thou wouldest score them on my want of Care or Skill in Correcting the same that they may not in the least reflect on the Credit of my dead Father JOHN FULLER ERRATA First Book PAg. 27. Line 7. for mutive read mutire l. 8. for Commoreat â—… Commoveat l. 13. for Proselytes r. Prose to its Gloucestersh Pag. 366. l. 6. add were many l. 7. for may seem to be r. many London Pag. 213. l. 44. for unius r. unus l. 45. for duellum r. duellam l. 47. for suscipiendum r. suscipiendam p. 214. l. 6. for primus acie r. primâ acie York shire Pag. 220. l. 40. for Or a Fess betwixt three Water bougets Or r. Argent a Fess betwixt threee Water bougets Gules Wales Preface l. 43. for grains r. pains p. 4. l. 31. add phrase p. 17. l. 16. dele half p. 25. l. 23. for Castro r. Castor p. 27. l. 9. for Gold r. no Gold p. 34. l. 30. for is here r. might have been here p. 44. l. 19. for freed r. free p. 47. l. 39. for must r. might p. 59. l. 39. for awarded r avoided l. 43. for as r. then THE WORTHIES OF ENGLAND CHAPTER I. The Designe of the ensuing Work ENGLAND may not unfitly be compared to an House not very great but convenient and the several Shires may properly be resembled to the rooms thereof No as learned Master Camden and painful Master Speed with others have discribed the rooms themselves so is it our intention God willing to discribe the Furniture of those rooms such Eminent Commodities which every County doth produce with the Persons of Quality bred therein and some other observables coincident with the same subject Cato that great and grave Philosopher did commonly demand when any new Project was propounded unto him * Cui Bono what good would ensue in case the same was effected A Question more fit to be asked then facile to be answered in all undertakings especially in the setting forth of new Books Insomuch that they themselves who complain That They are too many already help daylâ—… to make them more Know then I propound five ends to my self in this Book First To gain some Glory to God Secondly Deadâ—… â—… Thirdly To present Examples to the Living Fourthly To entertain the Reader with Delight And lastly which I am not ashamed publickly to profess To procure some honest profit to my self If not so happy to obtain all I will be joyful to attain some yea contented and thankful too if gaining any especially the First of these Ends the Motives of my Endeavours First Glory to God which ought to be the aim of all our actions though too often our bow starts our hand shakes and so our arrow misseth the mark Yet I hope that our discribing so good a Land with the various Fruits and fruitful varieties therein will ingage both Writer and Reader in gratitude to that God who hath been so bountiful to our Nation In order whereunto I have not only alwayes taken but often sought occasions to exhort to thankfulness hoping the same will be interpreted no stragling from my Subject but a closing with my Calling Secondly To preserve the Memories of the Dead A good name is an oyntment poured out smelt where it is not seen It hath been the lawful desire of men in all ages to perpetuate their Memories thereby in some sort revenging themselves of Mortality though few have found out effectual means to perform it For Monuments made of Wood are subject to be burnt of Glass to be broken of soft stone to moulder of Marble and Metal if escaping the teeth of Time to be demolished by the hand of Covetousness so that in my apprehension the safest way to secure a memory from oblivion is next his own Vertues by committing the same in writing toPosterity Thirdly To present examples to the living having here precedents of all sorts and sizes of men famous for Valour Wealth Wisedome Learning Religion and Bounty to the publick on which last we most largely insist The Scholar being taxed by his Writing-Master for idlenesse in his absence made a fair defence when pleading that his Master had neither left him Paper whereon or Copy whereby to write But rich men will
age of a man 1. Arch-bishop Cranmers whereof four besides himself were burnt at the stake and the rest exiled in Germany 2. Arch-bishop Parkers in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth leading Halcion-days without any considerable Opposition against the Hierarchy 3. Arch-bishop Whitgifts much Pen-persecuted and pelted at with Libellous Pamphlets but supported by Queen Elizabeths Zeal to maintain the Discipline established 4. Arch-bishop Abbot's fortunate all the peaceable Reign of King James and beginning of King Charles though the Skie was Red and Lowring foretelling foul weather to follow a little before their Death 5. Arch-bishop Juxton's whose Episcopal Chairs were not only shrewdly shaken but as to outward appearance overturned in our late mutinous Distempers I know the man full well to whom Mr. Charles Herle President of the Assembly said somewhat insultingly I le tel you News last Night I buryed a Bishop dashing more at his profession then person in Westminster Abbey to whom the other returned with like Latitude to both Sure you buried him in hope of Resurrection This our Eyes at this day see performed and it being the work of the Lord may justly seem marvellous in our Sight It is also very remakable that of this Fift and Last Company all Bishops in 1642. Nine are alive at this present viz. Pardon me if not enumerating them exactly according to their Consecration London Bath Wells Ely Salisbury Bongor Covent and Lichfield Oxford Rochester and Chichester A Vivacity hardly to be parallel'd of so many Bishops in any other age providence purposely prolonging their Lives that as they had seen the Violent Ruining they might also behold the legal Restitution of their Order Now although not the Quick but the Dead Worthies properly pertain to my pen yet I crave leave of the Reader in my following work to enter a brief Memorial of the place of their Nativities Partly because lately they were dead though not in Law in the List of a Prevalent party partly because they are dead to the World having most attained if not exceeded the age of man threescore and ten years To conclude though the Apostles words be most true that the Lesser are Blessed of the Greater and that Imperative and Indicative Blessings allways descend from the superiour yet an Optative Blessing no more then a plain prayer may properly proceed from an inferiour so that a plain Priest and submissive Son of the Church of England may blesse the Bishops and Fathers thereof God Sanctifie their former afflictions unto them that as the Fire in the Furnace only burnt the bonds setting them free who went in fetterr'd not the cloths much lesse the bodies of the children of the captivity so their sufferings without doing them any other prejudice may only disingage their souls from all Servitude to this World And that for the Future they may put together not only the parcels of their scattered Revenues but compose the minds of the divided People in England to the Confusion of the Factious and Confirmation of the Faithful in Israel CHAPTER VI. Of such who have been worthy States-Men in our Land THe word STATESMEN is of great Latitude sometimes signifying such who are able to manage Offices of State though never actually called thereunto Many of these men concealing themselves in a private condition have never arrived at publike notice But we confine the term to such who by their Princes favour have been preferred to the prime places Of 1. Lord CHANCELLOURS Of 2. Lord TREASURERS of England Of 3. SECRETARIES of State To whom we have added some Lord ADMIRALS of England and some Lord DEPUTIES of Ireland Lord Chancellours The name is taken from CANCELLI which signifies a kind of wooden Network which admitteth the eyes of people to behold but forbids their feet to press on Persons of Quality sequestred to sit quietly by themselves for publick imployment Hence Chancells have their denomination which by such a fence were formerly divided from the body of the Church and so the Lord Chancellour had a Seat several to himself free from popular intrusion I find another Notation of this Office some deducing his name à Cancellando from Cancelling things amisse and rectifying them by the Rules of Equity and a good Conscience and this relateth to no meaner Author then Johannes Sarisburiensis Hic est qui Leges Regni Cancellat iniquas Et mandata pii Principis aequa facit Siquid obest populis aut legibus est inimicum Quicquid obest per eum desinit esse nocens 'T is he who cancelleth all cruel Lawes And in Kings Mandates Equity doth cause If ought to Land or Laws doth hurtful prove His care that hurt doth speedily remove He is the highest Officer of the Land whose principal imployment is to mittigate the rigour of the Common Law with Conscientious qualifications For as the Prophet complaineth that the Magistrates in Israel had turned JUDâ—…MENT into WORMWOOD the like would dayly come to passe in England where High Justice would be High injustice if the bitterness thereof were not sometimes seasonably sweetned with a mixture of Equity He also keepeth the Great Seal of the Land the affixing whereof preferreth what formerly was but a Piece of written Parchment to be a Patent or Charter For though it be true what Solomon sayes Where the word of a King is there is power yet that word doth not act effectually until it be produced under the publick Seal Some difference there is between learned Authours about the antiquity of this Office when it first began in Engâ—…and Polydore Virgil who though an Italian could when he would see well into English Antiquities makes the Office to begin at the Conquerour And B. Godwin accounteth them sufficiently ridiculous who make Swithin Bishop of Winchester Chancellor of England under K. Athelwolfe Severall persons are alledged Chancellours to our English Kings before the Conquest and King Ethelred appointed the Abbat of Elie ut in Regis Curia Cancellarii ageret dignitatem The Controverfie may easily be compremized by this distinction Chancellour before the Conquest imported an Office of credit in the Kings Court not of Judicature but of Residence much in the nature of a Secretary Thus lately he was called the Chancellour understand not of the Diocess but of the Cathedral-Church whose place was to pen the Letters belonging thereunto Whereas the notion of the Kings Chancellour since the Conquest is inlarged and advanced to signifie the supreme Judge of the Land The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal is in effect the same with the Lord Chancelour of England save that some will have the Lord Chancellours place ad Terminum Vitae and the Lord Keepers ad placitum Regis Sure it is that because Nicholas Heath late Arch-Bishop of York and Chancellour of England was still alive though outed of his Office Sir Nicholas Bacon was made Lord Keeper and in his time the power of the Keeper was made equal with the authority of
of Edward the third England grew famous for Sea-fights with the French and encreased in credit especially since the Navy Royal was erected by Q. Elizabeth Some conceive it would be a great advancement to the perfecting of English Navigation if allowance were given to read a Lecture in London concerning that Subject in imitation of the late Emperour CHARLES the fifth who wisely considering the rawness of his Seamen and the manifold shipwracks which they sustained in passing and repassing between Spain and the West Indies established not only a Pilote Major for the examination of such as were to take charge of Ships in that voyage but also founded a Lecture for the Art of Navigation which to this day is read in the Contraction House at Sivil the Readers of which Lecture have not only carefully taught and instructed the Spanish Mariners by word of mouth but have also published sundry exact and worthy Treatises concerning Marine causes for the direction and encouragement of Posterity Here it were to be wish'd That more care were taken for and encouragement given to the breeding of Fishermen whom I may call the spawn or young Frie of seamen yea such as hope that Mariners will hold up if Fishermen be destroyed may as rationally exspect plenty of hony and wax though only old stocks of Bees were kept without either Casts or Swarmes Nor can Fishermen be kept up except the publick eating of Fish at set times be countenanced yea enjoyned by the State Some suspect as if there were a Pope in the belly of every Fish and some bones of superstition in them which would choak a conscientious person especially if fasting dayes be observed But know that such Customes grew from a treble root of Popery Piety and Policy and though the first of these be pluck'd up the other must be watered and maintained and Statesmen may be mortified and wise without being superstitious Otherwise the not keeping of Fasting-dayes will make us keep Fasting-Dayes I mean The not forbearing of Flesh for the feeding on Fish for the good of the STATE will in processe of time prove the ruine of Fishermen they of Seamen both of Englishmen We are sadly sensible of the truth hereof in part God forbid in whole by the decay of so many Towns on our North-east Sea Hartlepool Whitebay Bridlington Scarborough Wells Cromer Lestofâ—… Alborough Orford and generally all from New castle to Harewitch which formerly set out yearly as I am informed Two Hundred Ships and upwards inployed in the Fisherie but chiefly for the taking of Ling that Noble Fish corrival in his Joule with the surloin of Beef at the Tables of Gentlemen These Fishermen set forth formerly with all their male Family sea-men sea-youths I had almost said sea-children too seeing some learn'd the Language of lar-board and star-board with Bread and Butter Graduates in Navigation and indeed the Fishery did breed the natural and best elemented seamen But since our late Civil Wars not three ships are imployed yearly for that purposâ—… Fishermen preferring rather to let their Vesseâ—… lye and rot in their Havens than to undergo much pain and peril for that would not at their return quit cost in any proportion So that it is suspicious That in processe of time we shall lose the Masters being few and aged the Mystery of Ling-catching and perchance the Art of taking and handling some other kinde of sound and good Fish no Nation without flattery to our selves be it spoken using more care and skill in ordering of that Commodity Yea which is a greater mischief it is to be feared that the seminary of sea-men will decay For under correction be it spoken it is not the long voyages to the East-Indies c. which do make but marr sea-men they are not the Womb but rather the Grave of good Mariners it is the Fishery which hath been the Nursery of them though now much disheartened because their Fish turn to no account they are brought to so bad Markets Nor is there any hope of redressing this but by keeping up Fasting-Dayes which our Ancestors so solemnly observed I say Our Ancestors who were not so weak in making as we are willfull in breaking them and who consulting the situation of this Island with the conveniencies appendant thereunto suited their Lawes and accommodated their Customes to the best benefit thereof Nor was it without good cause why Wednesdayes and Fridayes were by them appointed for Fish-dayes I confesse some Forreigners render this Reason and father it upon Clemens Alexandrinus that Because those dayes were dedicated by the Heathen the one to Mercury the God of cheating the other to Venus the Goddesse of lust therefore the Christians should macerate themselves on that day with Fasting in sorrowful remembrance of their Pronity to the vices aforenamed But waving such fancies our English Fish or Fasting-Dayes are founded on a more serious consideration For our English Fishermen in Kent Sussex Hantsâ—…re c. set forth on Monday and catch their Fish which on Tuesday they send up to London where on Wednesday it is sold and eaten Such therefore who lately have propounded to antidate Fish-eating and to remove it from Wednesday to Tuesday must thereby occasion the encroaching on the Lords-Day to furnish the Markets with that Commodity Again such Fishermen as returned on Tuesday set forth afresh on Wednesday to take Fish which on Thursday they send up to London to supply the remainder of the Week It being observable that so great is the goodnesse of God to our Nation that there is not one week in the year wherein some wholesome Fish caught on our own Coast is not in the prime Season thereof As for Staple or Salt-Fish there are those that are acquainted in the Criticismes thereof and have exactly stated and cast up the proportions who will maintain that it will do the deed and set up the Fishery as high as ever it was if every one in England able to dispend a Hundred Pounds per annum were enjoyned to lay out Twenty Shillings a Year in staple-fish a Summ so inconsiderable in the Particulars that it will hurt none and so considerble in the total it will help all of our Nation If any censure this for a tedious Digression let it be imputed to my Zeal for the good of the Common-wealth CHAPTER IX Of Writers on the Cannon and Civil Law Physick Chemistry and Chirurgery I Sometimes wondered in my self at two things in the Primitive Church during the time of the Apostles First That seing they enjoyed all things in common what use they had of Lawyers seing no Propriety no Pleading and such a Communion of all things gave a Writ of Ease to that Profession And yet I find mention made of Zenas the Lawyer no Scribe of the Law as many amongst the Jews but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Advocate or Barrister therein Secondly I wondered what use there was of Physicians in the Church seeing the Apostles miraculously
all earnestnesse which will add so much to their account Some will say if the English be so forward in deeds of Charity as appeareth by what you said before any exhortation thereunto is altogether supersâ—…uous I answer the best disposed to Bounty may need a Remembrancer and I am sure that Nightingale which would wake will not be angry with the Thorn which pricketh her Breast when she noddeth Besides it is a Truth what the Poet saith Qui monet ut facias quod jam facis ipse monendo Laudat hortatu comprobat acta suo Who what thou dost thee for to do doth move Doth praise thy Practice and thy Deeds approve Thus the exhortations of the Apostles at Jerusalem were commendations of St. Paul Only they would that we should remember the poor the same which I also was forward to do Lastly though many of our Nation be free in this kind there want not those who instead of being Zealous are Jealous of good works being so far from shining themselves that they enviously endevour to extinguish the light of others whose Judgements I have laboured to rectifie herein The Stating of the Word REFORMATION with the Extensiveness thereof No word occurs oftner in this our Book then REFORMATION It is as it were the Aequator or that remarkable Line dividing betwixt Eminent Prelates Leaed Writers and Benefactors to the Publick who lived Before or After It. Know then that this Word in Relation to the Church of England is of above twenty years extent For the Reformation was not advanced here as in some Forraign Free-States suddenly not to say rapidly with popular Violence but Leisurely and treatably as became a matter of so great importance besides the meeting with much opposition retarded the proceedings of the Reformers We may observe that the Jews returned from the Captivity of Babylon at three distinct times under the Conduct of several persons 1. When the main Body of the Captives was brought home by Zorobabel by whom the second Temple was built 2. When a considerable Company returned with Ezra by whom the Church part as I may tearm it was setled in that Nation 3. When Nehemiah no doubt with suitable attendance came home and ordered the State moiety repairing the VValls of Jerusalem In like manner we may take notice of three distinct Dates and different degrees of our English Reformation though in relation to the Jewish I confess the method was altogether inverted For 1. The Civil part thereof when the Popes Supremacy was banished in the Reign of King Henry the Eight 2. VVhen the Church Service was reformed as far as that Age would admit in the first year of King Edward the Sixth 3. VVhen the same after the Marian interruption was resumed and more refined in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth The first of these I may call the morning Star The second the dawning of the day The third the Rising of the Sun and I deny not but that since that time his light and heat hath been increased But now the Question will be what is to be thought of those Prelates Writers and Benefactors which lived in the aforesaid Interval betwixt the Beginning and Perfecting of this Reformation For these appear unto us like unto the Batable ground lying betwixt England and Scotland whilest as yet two distinct Kingdomes in so dubious a posture it is hard to say to which side they do belong It is Answered the only way to decide this difference is to observe the Inclinations of the said persons so far forth as they are discovered in their Writings and actions such as appear in some good degree favourers of the Gospel are reputed to be since whilest those who are otherwise are adjudged to be Before the Reformation CHAP. XII Of Memorable Persons THe former Heads were like private Houses in which persons accordingly Qualified have their several habitations But this last Topick is like a publick Inn admitting all Comers and Goers having any extraordinary not vitious Remark upon them and which are not clearly reducible to any of the former Titles Such therefore who are over under or beside the Standard of Common persons for strength stature fruitfulnesse Vivacity or any other observeable eminence are lodged here under the Notion of Memorable Persons presuming the pains will not be to Me so much in marking as the pleasure to the Reader in knowing them Under this Title we also repose all such Mechanicks who in any Manual Trade have reached a clear Note above others in their Vocation Objection It is Deforme Spectaculum an uncouth Sight to behold such handy-crafts-men blended with Eminencies in ingenious professions such a mottley colour is no good wearing How would William Cecill Lord Treasurer of England and Baron of Burghleigh be offended to behold James York the Blacksmith set with him at the same Table amongst the Natives of Lincolne-shire Answer I am confident on the contrary that he would be highly pleased being so great a Statesman that he would countenance and encourage his Industrious Country man accounting nothing little without the help whereof greater matters can either not be attained or not long subsist Yea we see what signal notice the Spirit of God takes of the three Sons of Lamech the first Founders of Tent-making Organs and Iron-works and it is observable that whereas all their names are forgotten which built the Tower of Babel though done on design to get them a name these three Mechanicks viz. Jabal Jubal and Tubal Cain are nominatim recorded to all posterity Thus is it better to bottome the perpetuity of ones memory on honest Industry and ingenuous diligence then on Stately Structures and expensive magnificence I confesse it is easier to add to any art than first to invent it yet because there is a perfection of degrees as well as Kinds Eminent Improvers of an art may be allowed for the Co-inventers thereof being Founders of that accession which they add thereunto for which they deserve to be both regarded and rewarded I could name a worshipful Family in the South of England which for 16. several descents and some hundreds of years have continued in the same stay of Estate not acquiring one foot of Land either by match purchase gift or otherwise to their ancient Patrimony The same may be said of some handycrafts wherein men move in the same compasse but make no further progresse to perfection or any considerable improvement and this I impute generally to their want of competent encouragement CHAP. XIII Of Lord Maiors of LONDON I Have concluded this Work with these Chief Officers in that great City A place of so great Honour and Trust that it hath commonly been said that on the death of an English King The Lord Maior is the Subject of the greatest Authority in England Many other Offices determining with the Kings Life till such time as their Charters be renewed by his Successor whereas the Lord Maiors Trust continueth for a
So that as some transcripts hath for the fairness of their Character not only evened but exceeded the Original the Vice-comes have pro tempore equalled the Count himself and greatest Lords in the Land for their Magnificence Onus sine honore A Burden without Honour when it was obtruded on many as a punishment for the trouble and charge thereof and laid as a burden not on the back of that horse which was best able to carry it but who was least able to cast it off great persons by friends and favour easily escaping it whilst it was charged on those of meaner estates Though I do beleive it found all them Esquires and did not make any so as some will suggest Hence was it that many Sheriffs were forced to consult principles of Thrift not being bound so to serve their Country as to disserve themselves and ruine their estates and instead of keeping open houses as formerly at the Assises began to latch though not lock their dores providently reducing it to an ORDINARY expence and no wise man will conclude them to be the less loyal Subjects for being the more Provident Fathers At the end of every Shire after the forenamed Catalogue of the Gentry in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth I have set down a List of the Sheriffes from the Beginning of King Henry the Second untill the end of King Charles carefully collected out of the Records For I hope that by the former which I call my Broad representing the Gentry of one Generation all over England and this which I term my Long Catalogue extending it self successively through many Ages I hope I say both being put together may square out the most eminent of the Antient Gentry in some tolerable proportion Most eminent seeing I confess neither can reach all the Gentry of the land For as in the Catalogue of King Henry the Sixth many antient Gentlemen were omitted who were Minors in age and so uncapable of taking an Oath so doth not the List of Sheriffs comprehend all the Gentry in the Shire finding three sorts of people excluded out of the same Such who were 1. Above Discharging the Office 2. Besides 3 Beneath Above Such were all of the Peerage in the Land which since the Reign of King Edward the third were excused I am sure de facto not imployed in that place as Inconsistent with their Attendance in Parliament Secondly Such who were Besides the Place priviledged by their profession from that Office which may be subdivided into 1. Swordmen Imployed in Wars beyond the Seas thus Sir Oliver Ingham and Sir John Fastoffe both great men and richly landed in Norfolk were never Sheriffes thereof because imployed in the French Wars the one under King Edward the Third the other under King Henry the Fifth 2. Gownmen as Iudges Sergeants at Law Barristers Auditors and other Officers in the Exchequer c. 3. Cloakmen Such Courtiers as were the Kings Servants and in ordinary attendance about his Person Lastly Such as were Beneath the Place as men of too narrow Estates to discharge that Office especially as it was formerly in the magnificent expensivenesse thereof though such persons might be Esquires of right ancient Extraction And here under favour I conceive that if a strict Enquiry should be made after the Ancient Gentry of England most of them would be found amongst such middle-sized Persons as are above two hundred and beneath a Thousand pounds of Annual Revenue It was the Motto of wise Sir Nicholas Bacon Mediocria firma Moderate things are most lasting Men of great Estates in National Broiles have smarted deeply for their Visible Engagements to the Ruine of their Families whereof we have had too many sad Experiments whilest such persons who are moderately mounted above the level of Common people into a Competency above want and beneath Envy have by Gods blessing on their frugality continued longest in their Conditions entertaining all alterations in the State with the less destructive change unto themselves Let me add that I conceive it impossible for any man and difficult for a Corporation of men to make a true Catalogue of the English Gentry Because what Mathematicians say of a Line that it is Divisibilis in semper divisibilia is true hereof if the Latine were which for ought I know if as usuall is as Elegant Addibilis in semper addibilia Not only because New Gentry will every day be added and that as I conceive justly too for why should the Fountain of Honour be stopped if the Channel of desert be running but because ancient Gentry will dayly be newly discovered though some of them perchance for the present but in a poor and mean condition as may appear by this particular It happened in the Reign of King James when Henry Earl of Huntington was Lieutenant of Leicester-shire that a Labourers son in that County was pressed into the Wars as I take it to go over with Count Mansfield The Old man at Leicester requested his Son might be discharged as being the only Staff of his Age who by his Industry maintained him and his Mother The Earl demanded his name which the man for a long time was loth to tell as suspecting it a fault for so poor a man to confess a Truth at last he told his name was Hastings Cosen Hastings said the Earl we cannot all be Top Branches of the Tree though we all spring from the same Root Your Son my Kinsman shall not be pressed So good was the meeting of Modesty in a poor with Courtesie in an Honourable Person and Gentry I believe in Both. And I have reason to beleive that some who justly own the Sirnames and blood of Bohuns Mortimers and Plantagenets though ignorant of their own extractions are hid in the heap of Common-people where they find that under a Thatched Cottage which some of their Ancestors could not enjoy in a Leaded Castle contentment with quiet and security To return to our Catalogue of Sheriffs I have been bold to make some breif historical Observations upon them which I hope will not be unpleasing to the Reader whom I request first to peruse our Notes on Bark-shire because of their publick Influence on the rest facilitating some Difficulties which return in the Sheriffes of other Counties After we have presented the Sheriffs names we have annexed their addition either of estate as Esquire or degree as Knight Baronet c. and this we have done always after sometimes before K. Henry the Sixth For although the Statute of Additions was made in the first of King Henry the fifth to Individuifie as I may say and separate persons from those of the same name And although it took present effect in such Suits and Actions where processe of Utlary lieth yet was it not universally practiced in other Writings till the End of the Reign of King Henry the Sixth After their additions we have in a distinct Columel assigned the places of their Habitation where we
in Catal. Episc. Londini impres anno 1616. See here four places challenge one man and I am as unwilling to accuse any of falshood as I am unable to maintain all in the Truth However the difference may thus be accomodated Bradwardins Ancestors fetch'd their Name from that place in Herefordshire according to Camden though he himself was born as Bale saith at Hartfeld in Sussex within the City saith Pits of Chichester interpret him exâ—…ensively not to the Walls but Diocesse and Jurisdiction thereof As for Suffolk in Bishop Godwin I understand it an Erratum in the Printer for Sussex Our usual expedient in the like cases is this to insert the Character at large of the controverted person in that County which according to our apprehension produceth the best Evidence for him yet so that we also enter his name with a reference in the other respective places which with probability pretend unto him If equal likelyhood appear unto us on all sides that County clearly carries away his character which first presenteth it self to our Pen in the Alphabetical Order Thus lately when the same Living was in the gift of the Lord Chancellour Lord Treasurer and Master of the Wards that Clerk commonly carried it who was first presented to the Bishop However though in the disputable Nativities of worthy men first come first serv'd a Caveat is also entred in other Counties to preserve their Titles unprejudiced It must not be forgotten that many without just cause by mistake multiply differences in the places of mens Births The Papists please themselves with reporting a Tale of their own inventing how the men of two Towns in Germany fell out and fought together whilst one of them was for Martin the other for Luther being but the several names of the same person If one Author affirms Bishop Jewel born at Buden another at Berinerber let none make strife betwixt these two Writers the former naming the House and Village the later the Parish wherein he was born a case which often occurs in the Notation of Nativities That the Children of Clergymen have been as successeful as the Sons of Men of other Professions There goeth a common Report no less uncharitable than untrue yet meeting with many Beleivers thereof as if Clergy mens Sons were generally signally unfortunate like the Sons of Ely Hophnies and Phineaz's dissolute in their Lives and doleful in their Deaths This I may call a Libell indeed according to Sir Francis Bacon his Description thereof for first it is a Lye a notorious untruth and then a Bell some lowd and lewd Tongue hath told yea Rung it out and perchance was welcome Musick to some hearers thereof It is first confest that the best Saints and Servants of God have had bad as well as good children extracted from them It is the Note of Illiricus on those words of Saint John to the Elect Lady I rejoiced greatly when I found of thy Children walking in the Truth He saith not all thy but of thy children intimating that she had mingled Ware Corn and Tares in those who were descended from her Thus Aaron for I desire to restrain my self in instances of the Priests had Nadab and Abihu two strange Fire Offerers as well as his Godly Sons Eliazar and Ithamar Yea I find one of the best Fathers having two and those I beleive all he had of the worst Sons even Samuel himself Nor do we deny but that our English Clergy have been unhappy in their off-spring though not above the proportion of other Professions whereof some have not unprobably assigned these causes First If Fellows of Colledges they are ancient beâ—…ore they marry Secondly their children then are all Benjamins I mean the children of their Old age and thereupon by their Fathers to take off as much as we may the weight of the fault from the weaker Sex cockered and indulged which I neither defend or excuse but bemone and condemn Thirdly Such Children after their Fathers Death are left in their Minority to the careless Care of Friends and Executors who too often discharge not their due trust in their Education whence it is such Orphans too osten embrace wild courses to their own destructions But all this being granted we maintain that Clergy-mens Children have not been more unfortunate but more observed than the Children of the Parents of other Professions There is but one Minister at one time in a whole Parish and therefore the fewer they are the easier they are observed both in their Persons and Posterities Secondly the Eminency of their place maketh them exposed and obvious to all discoveries Thirdly possibly Malice may be the Eye-salve to quicken mens Sight in prying after them Lastly one ill Success in their Sons maketh for the reasons aforesaid more impression in the Ears and Eyes of people then many miscarriages of those Children whose Fathers were of another Function I speak not this out of Intent to excuse or extenuate the Badnesse of the one by the Badnesse of the other but that both may be mutually provoked to Amendment In a word other mens Children would have as many Eyesores if they had as many Eyes seeing them Indeed if happinesse be confin'd unto outward Pomp and Plenty and if those must be accounted unfortunate which I in the true meaning of the word must interpret unprovidenced who swim not in equal Plenty with others then that Epithet may be fixed on the Children of the Clergy Whose Fathers coming late to their Livings and surprised by Death not staying long on them which at the best afforded them but narrow maintenance leave them oft-times so ill provided that they are forced without blame or shame to them as I conceive to take sometimes poor and painful Employments for their Livelyhood But by our following Endevours it will plainly appear that the Sons of Ministers have by Gods blessing proved as Eminent as any who have raised themselves by their own Endevours For Statesmen George Carew Privy Councellor of England Scotland and Ireland and as able a man absit Invidia as the age he lived in produced was Earl of Totnes the same place whereof his Father was Arch-deacon Sir Edwin Sandys Son to Arch-bishop Sandys will be acknowledged even by his Enemies a man of such merit that England could not afford an Office which he could not manage For Lawyers Sir Thomas Richardson lately and the never sufficiently to be commended Sir Orlando Bridgeman now Lord Chief Justice with many others For Seamen Sir Francis Drake that great Scourge and Terror to the Spanish Pride If any say these are but thin Instances out of so thick a number de tot modo milibus unus few of so many Hundreds know we have only taken some Eminent persons leaving the rest for fear to be counted Forestallers to the Collection of the Reader in our ensuing Book But the Sons of Ministers have never been more successeful then when bred in the Professions of their
to prevent Cavils and avoid Confusion and to distinguish those from the former their Names are marked with S. N. for second Nativity to shew that whence soever they fetcht their Life here they found their best Livelyhood But when a person plainly appears born beyond the Seas We take no notice of him though never so highly advanced in England as without our Line of Communication and so not belonging to this Subject What REM for Remove when affixed in the Margin doth Denote We meet with some persons in this our Work whose Nativities we cannot Recover with any great Probability neither by help of History or Heraldry or Tradition or Records or Registers or Printed or Writen books which hitherto have come to our hands Now if such persons be of no Eminence we intend not to trouble our selves and Reader with them Let Obscurity even go to Obscurity when we find no great note in them we take not any notice of them But in case they appear men of much Merit whose Nativities are concealed by some Casualty we are loath that their Memories who whilst living were Worthies now dead should be Vagrants reposited in no certain place Wherefore we have disposed them in some Shire or other not as Dwellers no nor so much as Sojourners therein But only as Guests and we render some slight Reasons why we invited them to that place rather then another seeing a small motive will prevail with a charitable mind to give a Worthy Stranger a Nights Lodging However that these may not be confounded with those of whose Nativities we have either assurance or strong presumption We have in the Margin charactered them with a Rem for Remove it being our desire that they should be transplanted on the first convincing Evidence which shall appear unto us to their proper place And therefore I behold them as standing here with a Staffe in their hands ready to pack up and go away whither any good Guide shall give them direction Always provided that as they are set here with little they be not removed hence with lesse probability an unset bone is better then a bone so ill set that it must be broken again to double the pain of the Patient And better it is these persons should continue in this their loose and dislocated condition than to be falsly fixed in any place from whence they must again be translated Now Reader to recollect our marginal or prefixed characters know it is the best sign when no Sign at all is added to a name for then we proceed on certainty at least wise on the credit of good Authors for the place of his Nativity thus the best of the house giveth his Coat plain whilst the following differences are but the Diminutions of the younger brothers viz. 1. Amp. Where our Evidence of a persons birth is but conjectural and craveth further instruction 2. S. N. When having no aim at the place of their birth we fixe them according to their best Livelyhood 3. REM When wholly unsatisfied of their position we remit their Removal to the Readers discretion Now seeing order only makes the difference betwixt a wall and a heap of stones and seeing Quibene distinguit bene docet we conceived our selves obliged to part and not jumble together the several gradations How Persons belonging to several Topicks are ranked It often 〈◊〉 to passe that the same person may justly be entituled to two or more â—…opicks as by the ensuing may appear for not seeking due Information But let such know that those Officers who by their place are to find out persons enquired after deserve neither to be blamed nor shamed when having used their best diligence they return to the Court a Non est inventus For my own part I had rather my Reader should arise hungry from my Book than surfeited therewith rather uninformed than misinformed thereby rather ignorant of what he desireth than having a falsehood or at the best a conjecture for a truth obtruded upon him Indeed I humbly conceive that vacuity which is hateful in nature may be helpful in History For such an hiatus beggeth of posterity to take pains to fill it up with a truth if possible to be attained whereas had our bold adventure farced it up with a conjecture intus existens prohibuerit extraneum no room had been left for the endevours of others What Ampliandum so often occurring in this Book doth import It is sufficiently known to all Antiquaries that causes brought to be heard and determined before the Roman Judges were reducible to two kinds 1. Liquets 2. Ampliandums When the case as clear and plain was preâ—… decided When being dark and difficult they were put off to farther debate somewhat alluding to our Demurrs Hence it is that we find the Roman Oratour complaining of an unjust Judge Cum causam non audisset potestas esset Ampliandi dixit sibi Liquere I should be loth to be found guilty of the like offence in rash adjudging mens Nativities to places on doubtful Evidence and therefore when our presumptions do rather incline then satisfie we have prefixed AMP. before the Names of such persons For when they appear undoubted English and Eminent in their respective Qualities it would be in us a sin of omission not to insert them and yet being ignorant of the exact place of their Birth it would be presumption peremptorily to design it without this Note of Dubitation though on the most tempting Probabilities Know also that when AMP. is used in the Arms of Sheriffs it is only done in such an Exigent where there are different Coats of very ancient Families and largely diffused as Nevil Ferrers Basset c. So that it is hazardous for me to fixe on one in such great variety What S. N. frequently appearing prefixed to Mens NAMES doth signifie When we cannot by all our indevours inform our selves of the Nativities of some eminent person we are forced to this Refuge so creditable that I care not what Eyes behold us entring under the Roof thereof to insert such persons in those Counties where we find them either first or highest preferred and this we conceive proper enough and done upon good consideration For the wild Irish love their Nurses as well if not better than their own Mothers and affect their Foster-brothers which suckt the same breast as much as their Natural-brothers whith sprang from the same Womb. If any say these are the wild Irish whose barbarous customes are not to be imitated I defend my self by the practice of more civilized people The Latines have a Proverb non ubi nascor sed ubi pascor making that place their Mother not which bred but which fed them The Greeks have but one word 〈◊〉 both for Life and Livelyhood The Hebrews accounted that place was to give a Man his Native Denomination where he had his longest and most visible 〈◊〉 from though not sometimes in his Infancy By which common mistake Jesus
in this Land flying hither for succour from their Civil Wars and surely it was against their mind if they all went back again Distress at Sea hath driven others in as the Stewards High-sheriffs in Cambridgeshire As other accidents have occasioned the coming in of the Scrimpshires an hundred years since High sheriffs in Staffordshire more lately the Nappers in Bedfordshire and before both the Scots of Scots-hall in Kent I much admire that never an eminent Irish native grew in England to any greatness so many English having prospered in that Country But it seems we love to live there where we may Command and they care not to come where they must Obey Our great distance from Italy always in Position and since the Reformation in Religion hath caused that few or none of that Nation have so incorporated with the English as to have found Families therein Yet have we a sprinkling of Italian Protestants Castilian a valiant Gentleman of Berkshire The Bassanoes excellent Painters and Musicians in Essex which came over into England under King Henry the eight and since in the raign of Queen Elizabeth Sir Horatio Palavicine Receiver of the Popes Revenues landed in Cambridgeshire and the Caesars aliàs Dalmarii still flourishing in Hartfordshire in Worshipful Estates though I never find any of these performing the office of Sheriff The High-Dutch of the Hans Towns antiently much conversed in our Land known by the name of Easterlings invited hither by the large priviledges our Kings conferred upon them so that the Steel-yard proved the Gold-yard unto them But these Merchants moved round in their own Sphere matching amongst themselves without mingling with our Nation Onely we may presume that the Easterlings corruptly called Stradlings formerly Sheriffs in Wiltshire and still famous in Glamorganshire with the Westphalings lately Sheriffs of Oxfordshire were originally of German Extraction The Low Country-men frighted by Duke D'Alvas Tyranny flocked hither under King Edward the sixth fixing themselves in London Norwich Canterbury and Sandwich But these confined themselves to their own Church discipline and for ought I can find advanced not forward by eminent Matches into our Nation Yet I behold the worthy Family of De la Fountain in Lecestershire as of Belgian Original and have read how the ancestours of Sir Simon D'us in Suffolk came hither under King Henry the eight from the Dunasti or D'us in Gelderland As for the Spaniards though their King Philip matched with our Queen Mary but few of any eminence now extant if I well remember derive their Pedigrees from them This I impute to the shortness of their Reign and the ensuing change of Religions Probable it is we might have had more Natives of that Kingdome to have setled and flourished in our Nation had he obtained a marriage with Queen Elizabeth of Blessed Memory which some relate he much endeavoured As for Portugal few of that Nation have as yet fixed their habitations and advanced Families to any visible height in our Land But it may please God hereafter we may have a happy occasion to invite some of that Nation to reside and raise Families in England Mean time the May's who have been Sheriffs in Sussex are all whom I can call to mind of the Portugal Race and they not without a Mixture of Jewish Extraction Come we now to the second Division of our Gentry according to the Professions whereby they have been advanced And here to prevent unjust misprision be it premised that such professions Found most of them gentlemen being the though perchance Younger Sons of wealthy Fathers able to give them liberal education They were lighted before as to their Gentility but now set up in a higher Candlestick by such professions which made a visible and conspicuous accession of Wealth and Dignity almost to the ecclipsing their former condition Thus all behold Isis increased in name and water after its conjunction with Thame at Dorchester whilst few take notice of the first Fountain thereof many miles more Westward in Gloucestershire The Study of the Common-law hath advanced most antient extant Families in our Land It seems they purchased good Titles made sure Setlements and entailed Thrift with their Lands on their posterity A prime person of that profession hath prevented my pains and given in a List of such principal Families I say principal many being omitted by him in so Copious a subject Miraculous the mortality in Egypt where there was not a House wherein there was not one dead But I hope it will be allowed Marvellous that there is not a generous and numerous House in England wherein there is not one though generally no first Born but a Younger Brother antiently or at this day Living Thriving and Flourishing by the Study of the Law Especially if to them what in Justice ought be added those who have raised themselves in Courts relating to the Law The City hath produced more then the Law in number and some as broad in Wealth but not so high in Honour nor long lasting in time who like Land-floods soon come and soon gone have been dried up before the third Generation Yet many of these have continued in a certain channel and carried a Constant stream as will plainly appear in the sequel of our Worthies The Church before the Reformation advanced many Families For though Bishops might not marry they preferred their Brothers Sons to great Estates As the Kemps in Kent Peckhams in Sussex Wickham in Hampshire Meltons in Yorkshire Since the Reformation some have raised Families to a Knightly and Worshipful Estate Hutton Bilson Dove Neil c. But for Sheriffs I take notice of Sandys in Worcester and Cambridgeshire Westphaling in Herefordshire Elmar in Suffolk Rud in Carmarthenshire c. Sure I am there was a generation of People of the last Age which thought they would level all Clergy-men or any descendants from them with the ground Yea had not Gods arme been stretched out in their preservation they had become a prey to their enemies violence and what they had designed to themselves and in some manner effected had ere this been time perfectly compleated As for the inferiour Clergy it is well if their narrow maintenance will enable them to leave a livelihood to their little ones I find but one Robert Johnson by name attaining such an estate that his Grand-son was pricked Sheriff of a County but declined the place by pleading himself a Deacon and by the favour of Arch-bishop Laud. The Study of the Civil-Law hath preferr'd but few The most eminent in that faculty before the Reformation being persons in Orders prohibited marriage However since the Reformation there are some Worshipful Families which have been raised by the Study in this Faculty Yet have our wars which perhaps might have been advocated for in Turks and Pagans who bid defiance to all humanity but utterly mis-beseeming Christians been a main cause of the moulting of many Eminent and Worthy persons of this Profession Nor
prophecy or this prophetical menace to be not above six score yeares old and of Popish extraction since the Reformation It whispereth more then it dare speak out and points at more then it dares whisper and fain would intimate to credulous persons as if the blessed Virgin offended with the English for abolishing her Adoration watcheth an opportunity of Revenge on this Nation And when her day being the five and twentieth of March and first of the Gregorian year chanceth to fall on the day of Christs Resurrection then being as it were fortified by her Sons assistance some signal judgment is intended to our State and Church-men especially Such Coincidence hath hap'ned just fifteen times since the Conquest as Elias Ashmole Esquire my worthy friend and Learned Mathematician hath exactly computed it and we will examine by our Chronicles whether on such yeares any signal fatalities befell England A. D. Anno Reg. D. L. G. N. Signal Disasters 1095 W. Rufus 8. G 13 K. Rufus made a fruitless invasion of Wales 1106 H. first 6. G 5 K. Hen. subdueth Normandy and D. Robert his Brother 1117 H. first 17. G 16 He forbiddeth the Popes Legate to enter England 1190 R. first 2. G 13 K. Richard conquereth Cyprus in his way to Palestine 1201 K. John 2. G 5 The French invade Normandy 1212 K. John 13. G 16 K. John resigneth his Kingdom to the Pope 1285 Ed. first 13. G 13 Nothing remarkable but Peace and Plenty 1296 Ed. first 24. AG 5 War begun with Scotland which ended in Victory 1380 R. second 4. AG 13 The Scots do much harm to us at Peryth Fair. 1459 H. sixth 38. G 16 Lancastrians worsted by the Yorkists in fight 1543 H. eighth 34. G 5 K. Henry entred Scotland and burnt Edenburgh Hitherto this Proverb hath had but intermitting truth at the most seeing no constancy in sad casualties But the sting will some say is in the taile thereof and I behold this Proverb born in this following year 1554 Q. Mary 2. G 16 Q. Mary setteth up Popery and Martyreth Protestants 1627 Charles 3. G 13 The unprosperous Voyage to the Isle of Rees 1638 Charles 14. G 5 The first cloud of trouble in Scotland 1649 Â G 16 The first complete year of the English Common-wealth or Tyranny rather which since blessed be God is returned to a Monarchy The concurrence of these two dayes doth not return till the year 1722. and let the next generation look to the effects thereof I have done my part in shewing remitting to the Reader the censuring of these occurrences Sure I am so sinfull a Nation deserves that every year should be fatal unto it But it matters not though our Lady falls in our Lords lap whilst our Lord sits at his Fathers right hand if to him we make our addresses by serious repentance When HEMPE is Spun England is Done Though this Proverb hath a different Stamp yet I look on it as Coined by the same Mint Master with the former and even of the same Age. It is faced with a Literal but would be Lined with a Mysticall sense When Hemp is Spun that is when all that necessary Commodity is imployed that there is no more left for Sailes and Cordage England whose strength consists in Shipping would be reduced to a Doleful Condition But know under HEMPE are Couched the Initial Letters of Henry the 8. Edward the 6. Mary Philip and Elizabeth as if with the Life of the last the Happiness of England should expire which time hath confuted Yet to keep this Proverb in Countenance it may pretend to some Truth because then England with the Addition of Scotland lost its name in Great Brittain by Royal Proclamation When the Black Fleet of NORVVAY is come and gone ENGLAND Build Houses of Lime and Stone For after Wars you shall have none There is a Larger Edition hereof though this be large enough for us and more then we can well understand Some make it fulfilled in the eighty eight when the Spanish-Fleet was beaten the Sur-name of whose King as a Learned Author doth observe was NORVVAY Others conceive it called the Black Fleet of Norway because it was never black not dismall to others but wofull to its own Apprehension till beaten by the English and forced into those Coasts according to the English Historian They betook themselves to Flight leaving Scotland on the West and bending towards Norway ill advised But that necessity urged and God had Infatuated their Councells to put their shaken and battered bottoms into those Black and Dangerous Seas I observe this the rather because I believe Mr. Speed in this his Writing was so far from having a Reflexion on that I Question whether ever I had heard of this Prophecy It is true that afterwards England built houses of Lime and Stone and our most handsome and Artificiall Buildings though formerly far greater and stronger bear their date from the defeating of the Spanish Fleet. As for the Remainder After Wars you shall have none We find it false as to our Civil Wars by our woful Experience And whether it be true or false as to Forreign Invasions hereafter we care not at all as beholding this prediction either made by the wild fancy of one foolish man and then why should this many wise men attend thereunto or else by him who alwaies either speaks what is false or what is true with an intent to deceive So that we will not be ellated with good or dejected with bad success of his fore-telling England is the ringing Island Thus it is commonly call'd by Foreigners as having greater moe and more tuneable Bells than any one County in Christendom Italy it self not excepted though Nola be there and Bells so called thence because first founded therein Yea it seems our Land is much affected with the love of them and loth to have them carryed hence into forreign parts whereof take this eminent instance When Arthur Bulkley the covetous Bishop of Bangor in the Reign of King Henry the eighth had sacrilegiously sold the five fair Bels of his Cathedral to be transported beyond the Seas and went down himself to see them shipp'd they suddenly sunk down with the Vessell in the Haven and the Bishop fell instantly blind and so continued to the day of his death Nought else have I to observe of our English Bells save that in the memory of man they were never known so long free from the sad sound of Funerals of general infection God make us sensible of and thankfull for the same When the sand feeds the clay England cryes Well a-day But when the clay feeds the sand it is merry with England As Nottingham-shire is divided into two parts the sand and the clay all England falls under the same Dicotomie yet so as the sand hardly amounteth to the Fifth part thereof Now a wet year which drowneth and chilleth the clay makes the sandy ground most fruitfull with corn and
the generall Granarie of the Land which then is dearer in other Counties and it is harder for one to feed foure than foure to feed one It is furthermore observed that a drought never causeth a dearth in England because though parching up the sandy ground the clay being the far greatest moiety of the Land having more natural moisture therein affordeth a competent encrease England were but a fling Save for the crooked stick and the gray-goose-wing But a fling That is a slight light thing not to be valued but rather to be cast away as being but half an Island It is of no great extent Philip the Second King of Spain in the reign of Queen Elizabeth called our English Ambassadours unto him whilst as yet there was Peace betwixt the two Crowns and taking a small Map of the World layed his little finger upon England wonder not if he desired to finger so good a Countrey and then demanded of our English Ambassadour where England was Indeed it is in greatness inconsiderable to the Spanish dominions But for the crooked stick c. That is use of Archery Never were the Arrows of the Parthians more formidable to the Romans then ours to the French horsemen Yea remarkable his Divine Providence to England that since Arrowes are grown out of use though the weapons of war be altered the English mans hand is still in Ure as much as ever before for no Country affords better materials of Iron Saltpeter and Lead or better work-men to make them into Guns Powder and Bullets or better marks-men to make use of them being so made So that England is now as good with a streight Iron as ever it was with a crooked stick England is the Paradise of Women Hell of Horses Purgatory of Servants For the first Billa vera Women whether Maids Wives or Widowes finding here the fairest respect and kindest usage Our Common-Law is a more courteous carver for them than the Civil-Law beyond the seas allowing Widows the thirds of their Husbands Estates with other Priviledges The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or highest seats are granted them at all Feasts and the wall in crowding most danger to the weakest in walking most dignity to the worthiest resigned unto them The Indentures of maid-servants are cancelled by their Marriage though the term be not expired which to young-men in the same condition is denyed In a word betwixt Law and Laws-Corrival Custom they freely enjoy many favours and we men so far from envying them wish them all happiness therewith For the next â—… Englands being an Hell for Horses Ignoramus as not sufficiently satisfied in the evidence alledged Indeed the Spaniard who keeps his Gennets rather for shew than use makes wantons of them However if England be faulty herein in their over-violent Riding Racing Hunting it is high time the fault were amended the rather because The good man regardeth the life of his beast For the last â—… Pugatory for servants we are so far from finding the Bill we cast it forth as full of falshood We have but two sorts Apprentices and Covenant-servants The Parents of the former give large summes of money to have their Children bound for seven yeares to learn some Art or Mystery which argueth their good usage as to the generality in our Nation Otherwise it were madness for men to give so much money to buy their Childrens misery As for our Covenant-servants they make their own Covenants and if they be bad they may thank themselves Sure I am their Masters if breaking them and abusing their servants with too little meat or sleep too much work or correction which is true also of Apprentices are liable by Law to make them reparation Indeed I have heard how in the Age of our Fathers servants were in far greater subjection than now adayes especially since our Civil Wars hath lately dislocated all relations so that now servants will do whatsoever their Masters injoyn them so be it they think fitting themselves For my own part I am neither for the Tyranny of the one nor Rebellion of the other but the mutuall duty of both As for Vernae Slaves or Vassals so frequent in Spain and forreign parts our Land and Lawes whatever former Tenures have been acknowledg not any for the present To conclude as Purgatory is a thing feigned in it self so in this particular it is false in application to England A famine in England begins first at the horse-manger Indeed it seldom begins at the horse-rack for though hay may be excessive dear caused by a dry summer yet winter-grain never impaired with a drought is then to be had at reasonable rates Whereas if Pease or Oates our horse-grain and the latter mans-grain also generally in the North for poor people be scarce it will not be long ere Wheat Rie c. mount in our Markets Indeed if any grain be very dear no grain will be very cheap soon after The King of England is the King of Devils The German Emperour is termed the King of Kings having so many free Princes under Him The King of Spain King of men because they willingly yield their Sovereign rational obedience The King of France King of Asses patiently bearing unconscionable burdens But why the King of England King of Devils I either cannot or do not or will not understand Sure I am S. Gregory gave us better language when he said Angli velut Angeli for our fair complexions and it is sad we should be Devils by our black conditions The English are the Frenchmen's Apes This anciently hath been and still is charg'd on the English and that with too much truth for ought I can find to the contrary dolebat Et dici potuisse non potuisse refelli it is to us a pain This should be said and not gain-said again We ape the French chiefly in two particulars First in their language which if Jack could speak he would be a Gentleman which some get by travell others gain at home with Dame Eglentine in Chaucer Entewned in her voice full seemly And French she spake full feteously After the scole of Stratford at Bowe For French of Paris was to her unknow Secondly in their Habits accounting all our fineness in conformity to the French-fashion though following it at greater distance than the field-pease in the Country the rath ripe pease in the garden Disgracefull in my opinion that seeing the English victorious Armes had twice charged through the bowels of France we should learn our fashions from them to whom we taught Obedience The English Glutton Gluttony is a sin anciently charged on this Nation which we are more willing to excuse than confess more willing to confess than amend Some pretend the coldness of Climate in excuse of our sharp Appetites and plead the Plenty of the Land England being in effect all a great Cookes-shop and no reason any should starve therein for our prodigious Feasts They alledge also that foreigners even the
Spaniards themselves coming over hither acquit themselves as good Trencher-men as any so that it seems want not temperance makes them so abstemious at home All amounts not to any just defence excess being an ill expression of our thankfullness to God for his goodness Nor need we with the Egyptians to serve up at the last course a dead mans head to mind us of our mortality seeing a Feast well considered is but a Charnel house of foul Fish and Flesh and those few shell-fish that are not kill'd to our hands are kill'd by our teeth It is vaine therefore to expect that dead food should alwaies preserve life in the feeders thereupon Long beards heartless painted-hoods witless Gay-coats graceless make England thriftless Though this hath more of Libell than Proverb therein and is stark false in it self yet it will truely acquaint us with the habits of the English in that Age. Long-beards heartless Our English did use nutrire comam both on their Head and beards concieving it made them more amiable to their friends and terrible to their foes Painted-hoods witless Their hoods were stained with a kind of colour in a middle way betwixt dying and painting whence Painters-stainers have their name a Mystery vehemently suspected to be lost in our Age. Hoods served that Age for Caps Gay-coats graceless Gallantry began then to be fashionable in England and perchance those who here taxed them therewith would have been as gay themselves had their Land been as rich and able to maintain them This sing-song was made on the English by the Scots after they were flush'd with Victory over us in the Reign of King Edward the Second Never was the Battle at Cannae so fatal to the Romans as that at Sterling to the Nobility of England and the Scots puffed up with their Victory fixed those opprobrious Epithets of heartless witless graceless upon us For the first we appeal to themselves whether Englishmen have not good hearts and with their long beards long swords For the second we appeal to the World whether the wit of our Nation hath not appeared as considerable as theirs in their Writings and Doings For the third we appeal to God the onely Searcher of hearts and trier of true grace As for the fourth thriftless I omit it because it sinks of it self as a superstructure on a foundred and sailing foundation All that I will adde is this that the grave sage and reduced Scotish-men in this Age are not bound to take notice of such expressions made by their Ancestors seeing when Nations are at hostile defiance they will mutually endeavour each others disgrace He that England will win Must with Ireland first begin This Proverb importeth that great designs must be managed gradatim not only by degrees but due method England it seems is too great a morsel for a forreign foe to be chopped up at once and therefore it must orderly be attempted and Ireland be first assaulted Some have conceived but it is but a conceit all things being in the bosom of Divine Providence that had the Spanish Armado in eighty eight fallen upon Ireland when the well affected therein were few and ill provided they would have given a better account of their service to him who sent them To rectify which errour the King of Spain sent afterward John de Aquila into Ireland but with what success is sufficiently known And if any foreign Enemy hath a desire to try the truth of this Proverb at his own peril both England and Ireland lie for Climate in the same posture they were before In England a bussâ—…l of March dust is woâ—…th a Kingâ—… randsom Not so in Southern sandy Counties where a dry March is as destructive as here it is beneficial How much a Kings randsom amounteth unto England knows by dear experience when paying one hundred thousand pounds to redeem Richard the first which was shared between the German Emperour and Leopoldus Duke of Austria Indeed a general good redounds to our Land by a dry March for if our clay-grounds be over-drowned in that moneth they recover not their distemper that year However this Proverb presumeth seasonable showers in April following or otherwise March dust will be turned into May-ashes to the burning up of grass and grain so easily can God blast the most probable fruitfulness England a good Land and a bad People This is a French Proverb and we are glad that they being so much Admirers and Magnifiers of their own will allow any goodness to another Country This maketh the wonder the less that they have so much endeavoured to get a share in this good Country by their former frequent invasions thereof though they could never since the Conquest peaceably posseâ—…s a hundred yards thereof for twenty hours whilst we for a long time have enjoyed large Territories in France But this Proverb hath a design to raise up the Land to throw down the People graceing it to disgrace them We English-men are or-should be ready humbly to confess our faults before God and no less truly then sadly to say of our selves Ah sinfull Nation However before men we will not acknowledge a visible badness above other Nations And the plain truth is both France and England have need to mend seeing God hath formerly justly made them by sharpe Wars alternately to whip one another The High-Dutch Pilgrims when they beg do sing the French-men whine and cry the Spaniards curse swear and blaspheme the Irish and English steal This is a Spanish Proverb and I suspect too much truth is suggested therein the rather because the Spaniards therein spare not themselves but unpartially report their own black Character If any ask why the Italians are not here mentioned seeing surely their Pilgrims have also their peculiar humours know that Rome and Loretta the staples of Pilgrimages being both in Italy the Italians very seldom being frugal in their Superstition go out of their own Country Whereas stealing is charged on our English it is confess'd that our poor people are observed light-fingered and therefore our Lawes are so heavy making low Felony highly Penal to restrain that Vice most to which our Pezantry is most addicted I wish my Country more true Piety then to take such tedious and useless journeys but if they will go I wish them more honesty then to steal and the people by whom they pass more Charity than to tempt them to stealth by denying them necessaries in their journey Princes JOHN Eldest Son of King Edward the first and Queen Eleanor was born at Windsor before his Fathers voyage into Syria His short life will not bear a long Character dying in his infancy 1273. the last year of the Reign of King Henry the 3d. and was buryed August the 8. in Westminster under a Marble Tomb in-laid with his Picture in an Arch over it ELEANOR Eldest Daughter to King Edward the first and Queen Eleanor was born at Windsor Anno Dom. 1266. She was afterwards
marryed by a Proxy a naked sword being in bed interposed betwixt him and her body to Alphons King of Arragon with all Ceremonies of State And indeed they proved but Ceremonies the substance soon 〈◊〉 the said King Alphons dying Anno Dom. 1292. before the Consummation of the Mâ—…rriage But soon after this Lady found that a Living Earl was better then a Dead King when Marryed to Henry the 3d. Earl of Berry in France from whom the Dukes of 〈◊〉 and Kings of Sicil are descended This Lady deceased in the seven and twentieth of her Fathers Reign Anno Dom. 1298. MARGARET third Daughter of King Edward the first and Queen Eleanor was born at Windsor in the 3d. year of her Fathers Reign 1275. When fifteen year old she was Marryed at Westminster July 9th 1290. to John the second Duke of Brabant by whom she had Issue John the third Duke of Brabant from whom the Dukes of Burgundy are descended MARY sixth Daughter of King Edward the first and Queen Eleanor was born at Windsor April the 12. 1279. being but ten years of Age she was made a Nun at Amesbury in Wilt-shire without her own and at the first against her Parents consent meerly to gratify Queen Eleanor her Grand-mother Let us pity her who probably did not pity her self as not knowing a vaile from a kerchief not understanding the requisites to nor her own fitness for that profession having afterwards time too much to bemoan but none to amend her condition As for the other Children of this King which he had by Eleanor his Queen probably born in this Castle viz. HENRY ALPHONSE BLANCHE Dying in their infancy immediately after their Baptism it is enough to name them and to bestow this joynt Epitapb upon them â—…leansed at Font we drew untainted Breath Not yet made bad by Life made good by Death The two former were buryed with their Brother John of whom before at Westminster in the same Tomb but where Blanche was interred is altogether unknown Edward the Third Son to Edward the Second and Queen Isabel was born at Windsor October 13. 1312. and proved afterwards a pious and fortunate Prince I behold him as meerly passive in the deposing of his Father practised on in his Minority by his Mother and Mortimer His French Victories speak both of his Wisdom and Valour and though the Conquests by King Henry the fifth were thicker atchieved in a shorter time His were broader in France and Scotland by Sea and Land though both of length alike as lost by their immediate Successours He was the first English King which Coined* Gold which with me amounts to a wonder that before his time all yellow payments in the Land should be made in foreign Coin He first stamped the Rose-Nobles having on the one side Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat And on the reverse his own image with sword and shield sitting in a ship waving on the Sea Hereupon an English Rhymer in the Reign of King Henry the sixth For four things our Noble she weth to me King Ship and Swerd and Power of the See He had a numerous and happy issue by Philippa his Queen after whose death being almost seventy years old he cast his affection on Alice Pieâ—…ce his Paramour much to his disgrace it being true what Epictetus returned to Adrian the Emperour asking of him what Love was In puero pudor in virgine rubor in soemina furor in juvene ardor in sene risus In a boy bashfulness in a maid blushing in a woman fury in a young man fire in an old man folly However take this King altogether at home abroad at Church in State and he had few equals none superiours He dyed Anno Dom. 1378. WILLIAM sixth Son of King Edward the third and Queen Philippa was born at Windsor Indeed his second Son born at Hatfield was of the same name who dyed in his infancy and his Mother had a fond affection for another William because her Fathers Brothers and a Conquering Name till his short Life also dying in his cradle weaned her from renewing her desire As for King Edwards female Children Isabel Joan Blanch Mary and Margaret there is much probability of their French and no assurance of their English Nativity HENRY the sixth Son to Henry the fifth was born in Windsor-Castle against the will of his Father by the wilfulness of his Mother He was fitter for a Coul then a Crown of so easie a nature that he might well have exchanged a pound of Patience for an ounce of Valour Being so innocent to others that he was hurtful to himself He was both over-subjected and over-wived having marryed Margaret the Daughter of Reinier King of Jerusalem Sicily and Arragon a Prince onely Puissant in Titles otherwise little able to assist his Son in Law Through home-bred Dissentions he not onely lost the foreign acquisitions of his Father in France but also his own inheritance in England to the House of York His Death or Murder rather happened 1471. This Henry was twice Crowned twice Deposed and twice Buryed first at Chertsy then at Windsor and once half Sainted Our Henry the seventh cheapned the price of his Canonization one may see for his love and buy for his money in the Court of Rome but would not come up to the summe demanded However this Henry was a Saint though not with the Pope with the People repairing to this Monument from the farthest part of the Land and fancying that they received much benefit thereby He was the last Prince whom I find expresly born at Windsor It seems that afterwards our English Queens grew out of conceit with that place as unfortunate for Royal Nativities Saints MARGARET ALICE RICH were born at Abbington in this County and were successively Prioresses of Catesby in Northampton-shire They were Sisters to St. Edmund whose life ensueth and are placed before him by the Courtesie of England which alloweth the weaker Sex the upper hand So great the Reputation of their Holiness that The former Dying Anno 1257. The latter 1270. Both were honoured for Saints and many Miracles reported by crafty were believed by Credulous people done at their shrine by their Reliques St. EDMUND Son to Edward Rich and Mabel his Wife was born at Abbington in Bark-shire and bred in Oxford Some will have Edmunds-Hall in that University built by his means but others more probably nam'd in his Memory He became Canon of Salisbury and from thence by the joynt-consent of Pope King and Monkes three cords seldom twisted in the sa ne Cable advanc'd Arch-Bishop of Canterbury where he sate almost ten years till he willingly deserted it partly because offended at the power of the Popes Legate making him no more then a meer Cypher signifying onely in conjunction when concurring with his pleasure partly because vexed at his polling and peeling of the English people so grievous he could not endure so general
in his profession is sufficiently attested by his own Printed Reports Eight eminent Judges of the Law out of their knowledge of his great wisdome learning and integrity approving and allowing them to be published for the Common benefit He was against the Illegality of Ship-money both publickly in Westminster-hall and privately in his judgment demanded by the King though concluded to subscribe according to the Course of the Court by plurality of voices The Country-mans wit levelled to his brain will not for many years be forgotten That Ship-money may be gotten by Hâ—…ok but not by Crook though since they have paid taxes loins to the little finger and Scorpions to the Rod of Ship-money but whether by Hook or Crook let others inquire His piety in his equall and even walkings in the way of God through the several turnings and occasions of his Life is evidenced by his Charity to man founding a Chappel at Beachley in Buckingham-shire two miles at least distanced from the Mother-Church and an Hospitall in the same Parish with a liberall Revenue Considering his declining and decaying age and desiring to examine his Life and prepare an Account to the Supreme Judge he petitioned King Charles for a Writ of Ease which though in some sort denied what wise Mr. would willingly part with a good Servant was in effect granted unto him He dyed at Waterstock in Oxford shire in the eighty second year of his age Anno Dom. 1641. EDWARD BULTSTRODE Esq. born in this County bred in the studies of our municipall Laws in the Inner Temple and his Highness his Justice in North-wales hath written a book of divers Resolutions and Judgments with the reasons and causes thereof given in the Court of Kings-bench in the reigns of King James and King Charles and is lately deceased Souldiers Sir WILLIAM WINDSOR Knight I am confident herein is no mislocation beholding him an Ancestor to the right honourable Thomas Windsor Hickman Lord Windsor and fixed at Bradenham He was deputed by King Edward the third in the fourty seventh year of his reign Lord Lieutenant of Ireland which Country was then in a sad Condition For the King was so intent on the Conquest of France as a Land nearer fairer and due to him by descent that he neglected the effectuall reduction of Ireland This encouraged the Irish Grandees their O's and Mac's to Rant and Tyrant it in their respective seignieuries whilst such English who were planted there had nothing Native save their Surnames left degenerating by degrees to be Irish in their Habits Manners and Language Yea as the wild Irish are observed to love their Nurses or Fosters above their natural Mothers so these barbarizing English were more endeared to the interest of Ireland which fed then of England which bare and bred them To prevent more mischief this worthy Knight was sent over of whose valour and fidelity the King had great experience He contracted with the King to defray the whole charge of that Kingdome as appeareth by the instrument in the Tower for eleven thousand two hundred thirteen pounds six shillings and eight pence per annum Now Sir William undertook not the Conquest but Custody of the Land in a defen sive war He promised not with a daring Mountebank to Cure but with a discreet Physician to ease this Irish Gout Indeed I meet with a passage in Froissard relating how Sir William should report of himself that he was so far from subduing the Irish he could never have access to understand and know their Countries albeit he had spent more time in the service of Ireland then any Englishman then living Which to me seems no wonder the Irish vermin shrowding themselves under the Scabs of their Bogs and Hair of their Woods However he may truly be said to have left that land much improved because no whit more impaired during those dangerous distractions and safely resigned his office as I take it in the first of K. Richard the second ARTHUR GRAY Baron of Wilton is justly reckoned amongst the Natives of this Shire whose father had his Habitation not at Wilton a decayed Castle in Hereford-shire whence he took his Title but at Waddon a fair house of his Family not far from Buckingham He succeeded to a small Estate much diminished on this sad occasion His father William Lord Gray being taken Prisoner in France after long ineffectuall soliciting to be because captivated in the publick service redeemed on the publick charge at last was forced to ransom himself with the sale of the best part of his Patrimony Our Arthur endeavoured to advance his estate by his valour being entered in Feats of war under his Martial father at the siege of Lieth 1560. where he was shot in the shoulder which inspirited him with a constant antipathy against the Scotch He was afterwards sent over Lord Deputy into Ireland anno 1580. where before he had received the Sword or any Emblemes of Command ut acrioribus initiis terrorem incuteret to fright his foes with his fierce beginning he unfortunately fought the rebels at Glandilough to the great loss of English blood This made many commend his Courage above his Conduct till he recovered his credit and finally suppressed the rebellion of Desmund Returning into England the Queen chiefly relied on his counsel for ordering our Land-forces against the Spaniards in 88. and fortifying places of advantage The mention of that year critical in Church differences about discipline at home as well as with foreign foes abroad mindeth me that this Lord was but a Back-friend to Bishops in all divisions of Votes in Parliament or Council-table sided with the Anti-prelatical party When Secretary Davison that State-Pageant raised up on purpose to be put down was censured in the Star-chamber about the business of the Queen of Scots this Lord Gray onely defended him as doing nothing therein but what became an able and honest Minister of State An ear-witness saith Haec fuse oratoriè animosè Greium disserentem audivimus So that besides bluntness the common and becoming eloquence of Souldiers he had a real Rhetorick and could very emphatically express himself Indeed this warlike Lord would not wear two heads under one Helmet and may be said always to have born his Beaver open not dissembling in the least degree but owning his own judgment at all times what he was He deceased anno Dom. 1593. Writers ROGER de WENDOVER was born at that Market-town in this County bred a Benedictine in St. Albans where he became the Kings Historian Know Reader that our English Kings had always a Monck generally of St. Albans as near London the Staple of news and books to write the remarkables of their reigns One addeth I am sorry he is a forrainer and therefore of less credit at such distance that their Chronicles were lock'd up in the Kings Library so that neither in that Kings nor his Sons life they were ever opened If so
must be more in it to give him that denomination seeing many had that office besides himself He was a great Scholar and deep Divine it being reported to his no small praise That he conformed his Divinity to Scripture and not to the rules of Philosophy He flourished under King Edward the third anno 1350. WILLIAM CAXTON born in that Town a noted stage betwixt Roiston and Huntington Bale beginneth very coldly in his commendation by whom he is charactered Vir non omnino stupidus aut ignavia torpens but we understand the language of his Liptote the rather â—…ecause he proceedeth to praise his Diligence and Learning He had most of his Education beyond the Seas living 30. years in the Court of Margaret Dutchesse of Burgundy Sister to King Edward the fourth whence I conclude him an Anti-Lancastrian in his affection He continued Polychronicon beginning where Trevisa ended unto the end of King Edward the fourth with good judgment and Fidelity And yet when he writeth that King Richard the second left in his Treasury Money and Jewells to the value of seven hundred thousand pounds I cannot credit him it is so contrary to the received Character of that Kings Riotous Prodigality Caxton carefully collected and printed all Chaucers works and on many accounts deserved well of Posterity when he died about the year 1486. Since the Reformation RICHARD HULOET was born at Wishich in this County and brought up in good learning He wrote a book called the English and Latine A B C and dedicated the same to Thomas Goowrich Bishop of Ely and Chancellor of England Some will condemn him of Indiscretion in presenting so low a subject to so high a person as if he would teach the Greatest States-man in the land to spell aright Others will excuse him his book being though of low of generall use for the Common people who then began to betake themselves to reading long neglected in the land so that many who had one foot in their grave had their hand on their primer But I believe that his book whereof I could never recover a sight though entitled an A B C related not to Literall reading but rather to some Elementall grounds of Religion He flourished Anno Domini 1552. JOHN RICHARDSON was born of honest parentage at Linton in this County bred first Fellow of Emanuell then Master of Saint Peters and at last of Trinity-colledge in Cambridge and was Regius Professor in that University Such who represent him a dull and heavy man in his parts may be confuted with this instance An extraordinary Act in Divinity was kept at Cambridge before King James wherein Doctor John Davenant was Answerer and Doctor Richardson amongst others the opposers The Question was maintained in the negative concerning the excommunicating of Kings Doctor Richardson vigorously pressed the practice of Saint Ambrose excommunicating of the Emperour Theodosius insomuch that the King in some passion returned profecto fuit hoc ab Ambrosio insolentissimè factum To whom Doctor Richardson rejoyned responsum vere Regium Alexandro dignum hoc non est argumenta dissolvere sed desecare And so sitting down he desisted from any further dispute He was employed one of the Translators of the Bible and was a most excellent linguist whose death happened Anno Dom. 1621. ANDREW WILLET D. D. was born at Ely in this County bred Fellow of Christs-colledge in Cambridge He afterwards succeeded his father in the Parsonage of Barley in Hertford shire and became Prebendary of Ely He confuted their cavill who make children the cause of covetousness in Clergy-men being bountifull above his ability notwithstanding his numerous issue No less admirable his industry appearing in his Synopsiâ—… Comments and Commentaâ—…ies insomuch that one considering his Polygraphy said merrily that he must write whilst he slept it being unpossible that he should do so much when waking Sure I am he wrote not sleepily nor oscitantèr but what was solid in it self and profitable for others A casuall fall from his horse in the high-way near Hodsden breaking his leg accelerated his death It seems that Gods promise to his children to keep them in all their ways that they dash not their foot against the stone 'T is as other Temporall promises to be taken with a Tacit clause of revocation viz. if Gods wisdome doth not discover the contrary more for his glory and his childrens good This Doctor died Anno Domini 1621. Sir THOMAS RIDLEY Kt. Dr. of the Laws was born at Ely in this County bred first a scholar in Eaton then Fellow of Kings-colledge in Cambridge He was a general scholar in all kind of learning especially in that which we call melior literatura He afterwards was Chancellor of Winchester and the Vicar generall to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury his memory will never dye whilst his book called the view of the Ecclesiastical Laws is living a book of so much merit that the Common Lawyers notwithstanding the difference betwixt the professions will ingeniously allow a due commendation to his learned performance in that subject He died Anno Domini 1629. on the two and twentieth day of January ARTHUR HILDERSHAM was born at Strechworth in this County descended by his mothers side from the Bloud-Royal being great-great-grand-child to George Duke of Clarence brother to Edward the fourth Yet was he not like the proud Nobles of Tecoa who counted themselves too good to put their hands to Gods work But being bred in Christs-colledge in Cambridge he entred into the Ministry How this worthy Divine was first run a ground with poverty and afterwards set a float by Gods Providence how he often alternately lost and recovered his voice being silenced and restored by the Bishops how after many intermediate afflictions this just and upright man had peace at the last is largely reported in my Ecclesiastical History to which except I adde to the truth I can adde nothing on my knowledge remarkable He died Anno Domini 1631. R. PARKER for so is his Christian name defectively written in my Book was born in Ely therefore Place-nameing himself Eliensis was son as I am confident to Master Parker Arch-deacon of Ely to whom that Bishoprick in the long vacancy after the death of Bishop Cox was profered and by him refused tantum opum usuram iniquis conditionibus sibi oblatam respuens Our Parker was bred in and became Fellow of Caius-colledge an excellent Herauld Historian and Antiquary Author of a short plain true and brief Manuscript called Sceletos Cantabrigiensis and yet the bare Bones thereof are Fleshed with much matter and hath furnished me with the Nativities of severall Bishops who were Masters of Colledges I am not of the mind of the Italian from whose Envy God deliver us Polidore Virgil who having first served his own turn with them burnt all the rare English Manuscripts of History he could procure so to raise the valuation of his own works But from my heart I wish some
204. This hope of Comfort came to his Lord-ship thereby that if it pleased God to impart any mercy to him as his mercy endureth for ever it was by the especial Ministry of this Man who was the last of his Coat that was with him in his sickness He was a principal means of recovering Durham house unto his See This house was granted by King Edward the sixth to the Lady afterwards Queen Elizabeth only for term of life and lay long neglected during her Raign till Bishop James about the sixth of King James regained it and repaired the Chappel which he found not only Profaned but even defaced to his great cost and furnished it very decently He once made so compleat an Entertainment for Queen Elizabeth that Her Majesty commended the order and manner thereof for many years after This maketh me the more to admire at what I have heard reported that when King James in his progress to Scotland Anno 1617. passed through the Bishoprick of Durham some neglect was committed by this Bishops Officers for which the King secretly and sharply check'd this Bishop who layed it so to heart that he survived the same Reproof not a full twelvemonth JOHN RICHARDSON was as he told me born in this County of a Family of good worship and great antiquity therein After his hopeful education in Country Schools he was bred in the University of Dublin where he was Graduated Doctor in Divinity and afterwards was made Bishop of Ardagh in Ireland In the late Rebellion he came over into England continuing for many years therein Episcopal Gravity was written in his Countenance and he was a good Divine according to the Rule Bonus Textuarius bonus Theologus no man being more exact in Knowledge of Scripture carrying a Concordance in his Memory Great was his paines in the Larger Annotations especially on Ezechiel For let not the Cloaks carry away the credit from the Gowns and Rochet in that Work seeing this Bishop might say Pars Ego magna fui and Doctor Featly with others of the Episcopal Party bare a great share therein Our Saviour we know lived on the Charity of such good People as ministred unto him and yet it may be collected that it was his constant custome especially about the feast of the Passover to give some Almes to the poor So our Bishop who was relieved by some had his Bounty to bestow on others and by his Will as I am Informed he bequeathed no inconsiderable Legacy to the Colledge in Dublin He died Anno 1653. in the 74. year of his Age. States men Sir THOMAS EGERTON Knight was extracted from the Ancient Family of the Egertons of Ridley in this County bred in the Study of the Municipal Laws of our Land wherein he attained to such eminency that Queen Elizabeth made him her Solicitor then Master of the Rolls and at last Keeper of the Great Seal May 6. in the 38. year of her Raign 1596. Olaus Magnus reporteth that the Emperour of Muscovia at the Audience of Embassadours sendeth for the Gravest and Seemliest men in Musco and the Vicinage whom he apparelleth in Rich Vests and placing them in his presence pretendeth to Forraigners that these are of his Privy-council who cannot but be much affected with so many Reverend aspects But surely all Christendome afforded not a Person which carried more Gravity in his Countenance and Behaviour then Sir Thomas Egerton in so much that many have gone to the Chancery on purpose only to see his Venerable Garb happy they who had no other business and were highly pleased at so acceptable a Spectacle Yet was his Outward Case nothing in comparison of his Inward Abilities Quick Wit Solid Judgment Ready Utterance I confess Master Camden saith he entred his Office Magna expectatione Integritatis opinione With a great expectation and opinion of Integrity But no doubt had he revised his Work in a second Edition he would have afforded him a full-faced commendation when this Lord had turned his expectation into performance In the first of King James of Lord Keeper he was made Lord â—…hauncellour which is only another Name for the same Office and on Thursday the seventh of Novemb. 1616. of Lord Elismer he was created Viscount Brackley It is given to Courts whose Jurisdictions do border to fall out about their bounds and the Contest betwixt them is the hotter the higher the Spirits and Parts of the Respective Judges Great the Contention for many years together betwixt this Lord of Equity and Sir Edward Cook the Oracle of Justice at Westminster-hall I know not which of them got the better sure I am such another Victory would if this did not have undone the Conqueror He was attended on with Servants of most able parts and was the sole Chancellor since the Reformation who had a Chaplain which though not immediatly succeeded him in his place He gave over his Office which he held full twenty years some few days before his death and by his own appointment his body was brought down and buried at Duddleston in this County leaving a fair Estate to his Son who was afterwards Created Earl of Bridgwater When he saw King James so profuse to the Scots with the grave Fidelity of a States-man he sticked not often to tell him that as he held it necessary for his Majesty amply to remunerate those his Country-men so he desired him carefully to preserve his Crown-lands for his own support seeing he or his Successourâ—… might meet with Parliaments which would not supply his Occasions but on such Conditions as would not be very acceptable unto him It was an ordinary Speech in his Mouth to say Frost and Fraud both end in Foul. His death happened Anno Dom. 1616. Capitâ—…l Judges Sir HUMPHRY STARKEY was born with most Probability in this County where his Name is in good hath been in a better Esteem and Estate He in the Study of our Laws so profited that after some intermediate Dignities he was preferred Chief Baron of the Exchequer I cannot with certainty fix his admission into that Office Confused Times causing Confused Dates but with as much certainty as we can collect we conclude him preferred to that place 1. Henrici 7. We need enquire no farther into his ability finding him by so wise and frugal a King imployed in a place belonging to his Coffers who though he was sometimes pleased to be remiss in matters which concerned his Subjects was ever carefull in things wherein his own Emolument was interested Wonder not that we have so little left of this Judge his Actions because Empson and Dudly Loaders grinding more then the Chief Miller were such Instruments whose over-activity made all others seem Slugs in that Court It doth sound not a little to the praise of our Starkey that whereas that Age was justly complaining of the Extortions of the Kings Officers nothing of that nature no hearing best hearing in this kind is
also Oysters and other Shellfish gaping for the Dew are in a manner impregnated therewith So that some conceive that as Dew is a Liquid Pearl so a Pearl is Dew consolidated in these fishes Here poor people getting them at low water sell to Jewellers for Pence what they sell again for Pounds Indeed there is a Spanish Proverbe that a Lapidary who would grow rich must buy of those who go to be executed as not caring how cheap they sell and sell to those that go to be married as not caring how dear they buy But waving these advantages such of that Mistery which Trade with Country-people herein gaine much by buying their Pearls though far short of the Indian in Orientness But whether not as usefull in Physick is not as yet decided Black-lead Plenty hereof is digged up about Keswick the onely place as I am inform'd where it is found in Europe and various is the use thereof 1. For Painters besides some mixture thereof in making Leadâ—…colours to draw the Pictures of their Pictures viz. those shadowy lines made onely to be unmade again 2. For pens so usefull for Scholars to note the remarkables they read with an impression easily deleble without prejudice to the book 3. For Feltmakers for colouring of hats 4. To scoure leaden cisternes and to brighten things made of Iron 5. In Flanders and Germany they use it for glasing of stuffs Besides these visible surely there are other concealed uses thereof which causeth it daily to grow the dearer being so much transported beyond the seas Copper These mines lay long neglected choak'd in their own rubbish till renewed about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth when plenty of Copper was here afforded both for home-use and â—…orraign transportation But Copper it self was too soft for severall military services and could not alone no single person can prove a parent produce brass most usefull for that purpose Here taste and see Divine Providence which never doth its work by halfes and generally doubleth gifts by seasonable giving them Lapis calaminaris whereof hereafter in due place was then first found in England the Mother of Brass as Copper the father hereof Hence came it to pass that Queen Elizabeth left more brass then She found Iron-ordnance in the Kingdome And our wooden walls so our ships are commonly call'd were rough-casted over with a coat of a firmer constitution We must not forget the names of the two Dutch-men good froggs by sea but better moles by land who re-found out these Copper-mines wherein also some silver no new milk without some creame therein viz. Thomas Shurland and Daniel Hotchstabter of Auspurge in Germany whose Nephews turning purchasers of lands hereabouts prefer easily to take what the earth tenders in her hands above ground then painfully to pierce into her heart for greater treasure I am sorry to hear and loath to believe what some credible persons have told me that within this twenty years the Copper within this County hath been wholly discontinued and that not for want of Mettall but Mining for it Sad that the industry of our age could not keep what the ingenuity of the former found out And I would willingly put it on another account that the burying of so much steel in the bowells of men dureing our Civil Wars hath hindred their digging of Copper out of the entralls of the Earth hoping that these peaceable times will encourage to the resuming thereof The Buildings This County pretendeth not to the mode of Reformed Architecture the Vicinity of the Scots causing them to build rather for Strength then State The Cathedrall of Carlile may pass for the Embleme of the Militant-Church Black but Comely still bearing in the Complexion thereof the remaining signes of its former burning Rose-castle the Bishops best Seat hath lately the Rose therein withered and the Prickles in the Ruins thereof onely remain The houses of the Nobility and Gentry are generally built Castle-wise and in the time of the Romans this County because a Limitary did abound with Fortifications Mr. Cambden taking notice of more Antiquities in Cumberland and Northumberland then in all England besides The Wonders Although if the word Wonders be strained up high and hard this County affordeth none yet if the sense thereof be somewhat let down the compass thereof fetcheth in the Moss-Troopers So strange the condition of their living if considered in their Original Increase Height Decay and Ruine 1. Originall I conceive them the same called Borderers in Mr. Cambden and charactered by him to be a wild and war-like people they are called Moss-Troopers because dwelling in the Mosses and riding in Troops together They dwell in the Bounds or meeting of two Kingdomes but obey the Laws of neither They come to Church as seldome as the 29. of February comes into the Kalender 2. Increase When England and Scotland were united in Great Britain they that formerly lived by Hostile incursions betook themselves to the robbing of their Neighbours Their Sons are free of the trade by their Fathers Copy they are like unto Job not in piety and patience but in suddain plenty and poverty sometimes having Flocks and Heards in the morning none at night and perchance many again next day They may give for their Motto vivitur ex rapto stealing from their honest Neighbours what sometimes they re-gain They are a nest of Hornets strike one and stir all of them about your ears Indeed if they promise safely to conduct a Traveller they will perform it with the fidelity of a Turkish Janizary otherwise wo be to him that falleth into their quarters 3. Height Amounting forty years â—…ince to some Thousands These compelled the Vicenage to purchase their security by paying a constant rent unto them When in their greatest height they had two great Enemies the Laws of the Land and the Lord William Howard of Naworth He sent many of them to Carlisle to that place where the Officer always doth his work by day-light Yet these Moss-Troopers if possibly they could procure the pardon for a condemned person of their Company would advance great sums out of their Common stock who in such a case cast in their Lots amongst themselves and all have one purse 4. Decay Caused by the wisdome valour and diligence of the Right Honorable Charles L. Howard now Earl of Carlisle who routed these English-Tories with his Regiment His severity unto them will not onely be excused but commended by the judicious who consider how our great Lawyer doth describe such persons who are solemnly 〈◊〉 Bracton Lib. tertio Tract 2. Cap. 11. Ex tunc gerunt Caput Lupinum ita quod sine judiciali inquisitione ritè 〈◊〉 secum 〈◊〉 judicium portent meritò sine Lâ—…ge pereunt qui secundum Legem vivere recusarunt Thenceforward after they are out-law'd they wear a Woolfs-head so that they lawfully may be destroyed without any judiciall inquisition as who carry their own Condemnation about them and
20 Fr. Lamplough a. ut prius  21 Ioh. Lamplough ut prius  22 Hen. Curwen ar ut prius  23 Chri. Dacre ar ut prius  24 Wilfr Lawson ar  Per Pale Arg. and S. a Chev. counterchanged 25 Ioh. Dalston ar ut prius  26 Ioh. Midleton ar   27 Geo. Salkeld ar ut prius  28 Ioh. Dalston ar ut prius  29   30 Rich. Louther ar ut prius  31 Hen. Curwen 〈◊〉 ut prius  32 Chr. Pickering ar  Ermin a Lion Rampent Azure Crowned Or. 33 Ioh. Southwike a   34 Will. Musgrave a. ut prius  35 Ger. Louther ar ut prius  36 Ioh. Dalston ar ut prius  37 Lau. Salkeld ar ut prius  38 Chri. Dalston ar ut prius  39 Wilfri Lawson ut prius  40 Tho. Salkeld ar ut prius  41 Ios. Penington ar ut prius  42 Nich. Curwen ar ut prins  43 Will. Orfenâ—…r ar   44 Edm. Dudley ar  Or a Lion rampant duble queve Vert. 45 Will. Hutton ar prim Jac. ut prius  JAC. REX   Anno   1 Will. Hutton ar ut prius  2 Ioh Dalston ar ut prius  3 Chri. Pickeâ—…ing a. ut prius  4 Wilf Lauson m. ut prius  5 Chri. Pickering m. ut prius  6 Hen. Blencow ar  Sable on a Bend 3 Chaplets G. 7 Will. Hutton m ut prius  8 Ios. Penington ar ut prius  9 Chr. Pickering m. ut prius  10 Wilf Lawson m. ut prius  11 Th. Lamplough a. ut prius  12 Edw. Musgrave m. ut prius  13 Rich. Flecher ar Hutton Arg. a Salter engrailed betwixt 4 Roundlets each châ—…rged with a Pheon of the field 14 Will. Musgrave m. ut prius  15 Wil. Hudleston a. ut prius  16 Geo. Dalston ar ut prius  17 Hen. Curwen mi. ut prius  18 Io Lamplough a. ut prius  19 Hen. Fetherston  G. a Chev. betwixt 3 Oestridges feathers 20 Fran. Dudley vid. Admi. Tho. Dudley ar Edw. Dudley ar defund Tho. Lamplough mil. ut prius   ut prius   ut prius  21 Rich. Samford m ut prius  22 Rich. Fletcher m. ut prius  CAR. REG.   Anno   1 Hen. Blencowe m. ut prius  2 Pet. Senhouse ar Scascall Arg. a 〈◊〉 proper 3 Chri. Dalston ar ut prius  4 Will. Layton ar   5 Wilâ—… Musgrave m. ut prius  6 Chr. Richmond a.   7 Leon. Dykes ar  Or 3 Cinquefoils Sable 8 Ioh. Skelton ar ut prius  9 Will. Orfener ar   10 Rich. Barvis ar ut prius  11 Will. Lawson ar   12 Patri Curwen ar ut prius  13 Tho. Dacre 〈◊〉 ut prius  14 Ti. Fetherston 〈◊〉 ut prius  15   16 Chri. Louther ar ut prius  17 Hen. Fletcher bar ut prius  18   19   20   21   22 Hen. Tolson ar ut prius  Edward IV. 16 RICHARD DUKE OF GLOUCESTER He is notoriously known to Posterity without any â—… Comment or Character to describe him In his Armes it is observable that the younger sons of Kings did not use our Common Modern manner of differences by Cressants Mullets Martilets c. but assumed unto themselves some other differencing devices Wonder not that his Difference being a Labell disguised with some additions hath some Allusion to Eldership therein whilst this Richard was but the Third son seeing in his own Ambition he was not onely the Eldest but Onely Child of his Father as appeareth by his Project not long after to Basterdize both his Brethren And now did he begin to cast an Eye on and forecast a way to the Crown by securing himself of this County which is the Back as Northumberland the Fore Door into Scotland In the mean time Cumberland may count it no mean Credit that this Duke was for six years together and at that very time her High-Sheriff when he was made or rather made himself King of England Henry VIII 21 THOMAS WHARTON This must needs be that worthy person whom King Henry the eighth afterwards created first L. Wharton of Wharton in Westmerland and who gave so great a defeat to the Scots at Solemn Moss that their King James the fifth soon after died for sorrow thereof Indeed the Scotish Writers conceiving it more creditable to put their defeat on the account of Anger then of Fear make it rather a Surrender then a Battle as if their Country-men were in effect unwilling to Conquer because unwilling to Fight Such their Disgust taken at Oliver Sentclear a man of Low Birth and High Pride obtruded on them that day by the King for their Generall And to humor their own discontentment they preferred rather to be taken Prisoners by an Enemy then to fight under so distasted a Commander As for the Lord Wharton I have read though not able presently to produce my Author that for this his service his Armes were augmented with an Orle of Lions paws in Saltier Gules on a Border Or. The Farewell I understand two small Manufactures are lately set up therein the one of course Broad-cloath at Cokermouth vended at home The other of Fustians some two years since at Carlile and I wish that the Undertakers may not be disheartned with their small encouragement Such who are ashamed of Contemptible beginnings will never arrive at considerable endings Yea the greatest Giant was though never a Dwarfe once an Infant and the longest line commenced from a little point at the first DERBY-SHIRE DERBY-SHIRE hath York-shire on the North Nottingham-shire on the East Leicester-shire on the South Stafford and Cheshire on the West The River South Darwent falling into Trent runneth through the middle thereof I say South Darwent for I find three more North thereof Darwent which divideth the West from the East riding in Yorkshire Darwent which separateth the Bishoprick of Durham from Northumberland Darwent in Cumberland which falleth into the Irish Ocean These I have seen by Critical Authors written all alike enough to perswade me that Dower the Brittish word for water had some share in their denomination The two extreams of this Shire from North to South extend to thirty eight miles though not fully twenty nine in the broadest part thereof The South and East thereof are very fruitful whilest the North part called the Peak is poor above and rich beneath the ground Yet are there some exceptions therein Witness the fair pasture nigh Haddon belonging to the Earl of Rutland so incredibly battling of Cattel that one proffered to surround it with shillings to purchase it which because to be set side-ways not edge-ways were refused Natural Commodities Lead The best in England not to say Europe
by the waters thereof Princes I find no Prince since the Conquest who saw his first light in this County probably because our English Kings never made any long residence therein Saints St. ALKMUND son to Alred King of Northumberland slain in a Battel on the behalf of Ethelmund Vice-Roy of Worcester pretending to recover Lands against Duke Wolstan who detained them was therefore reputed Saint and Martyr It would pose a good Scholar to clear his Title to the later who lost his life in a quarrel of civil concernment On which account in all Battels betwixt Christians such as are slain on one side may lay claim to Martyr-ship However it befriendeth his Memory that his body translated to Derby was believed to do miracles being there with great veneration interred in a Church called Saint Alkmunds on the right hand as Passengers from the South go over the Bridge whither the Northern people made many Pilgrimages till discomposed by the Reformation What relation Alkmundsbury a Town in Hantingdonshire hath unto Him is to me unknown Martyrs JOAN WAST was a blind Woman in the Town of Derbey and on that account the object of any mans Alms rather than the Subject of his cruelty Besides she was seemingly a silly Soul and indeed an Innocent though no Fool. And what saith our Saviour For judgement am I come into this world that they which see not might see and that they which see might be made blind This poor Woman had a clear apprehension of Gods Truth for the testimony whereof she was condemned and burnt at the Stake by the command of Bishop Baines who as he began with the Extreams Mistress Joyce Lewis one of the best and this Joan Wast one of the basest birth in his Diocess So no doubt had not Queen Mary died he would have made his cruelty meet in persons of a middle condition Cardinals ROGER CURSON was born saith my Author ex nobili quodam Anglorum genere of Worshipful English extraction Now I find none of his sirname out of this County except some branches lately thence derived but in the same two right ancient Families one formerly at Croxton whose heir general in our age was married to the Earl of Dorset the other still flourisheth at in this County which moves me to make this Roger a Native thereof Bred he was first a Scholar in Oxford then a Doctor in Paris and lastly a Cardinal in Rome by the Title of Saint Stephen in Mount Celius When the City of Damiata in Egypt was taken under John Brenn King of Jerusalem our Cardinal Curson was there accompanying Pelagius the Popes Cardinal He wrote many Books and came over into England as the Popes Legate in the raign of King Henry the third The certain time of his death is unknown PHILIP de REPINGDON took no doubt his name and birth from Repingdon commonly contracted and called Repton in this County and I question whether any other in England of the same name He was bred and commenced first Batchelor then Doctor of Divinity in Oxford where he became a great Champion and Assertor of the Doctrine of John VVickliff which caused him much trouble and many strict examinations But alas he became like the seed on stony ground which not having root in it self endured but for a while and withered away in persecution for he solemnly recanted his opinions Novemb. 24. Anno 1383. And to give the better assurance that he was a true Anti-VVickliffite from a Professor he became a persâ—…cutor and afterwards was termed Rampington by those poor people whom he so much molested Then preferment flowed in thick and threefold upon him from a Canon he became Abbot of Leicester and Anno 1400. he was made Chancellor of Oxford 1405. Bishop of Lincoln 1408. by Pope Gregory the twelfth he was created Cardinal of Saint Nerius and Achilleius though that Pope had solemnly sworn he would make no more Cardinals till the Schisme in Rome were ended The best is the Pope being Master of the Oath-Office may give himself a Pardon for his own perjury What moved this Repington willingly to resign his Bishoprick 1420. is to me unknown Prelates WILLIAM GRAY was son to the Lord Gray of Codnor in this County He suffered not his Parts to be depressed by his Nobility but to make his mind the more proportionable he endeavoured to render himself as able as he was honourable He studied first in Baliol Colledge in Oxford then at Ferrara in Italy where he for a long time heard the Lectures of Guarinus of Verona that accomplished Scholar No man was better acquainted with the method of the Court of Rome which made our King appoint him his Procurator therein It is hard to say whether Pope Nicholas the fifth or our King Henry the sixth contributed most to his free Election to the Bishoprick of Eely whilest it 〈◊〉 out of doubt his own deserts concurred most effectually thereunto He sate in that See twenty four years and wrote many Books which the envy of time hath denied to posterity Bishop Godwin by mistake maketh him Chancellor of England whereas indeed he was Lord Treasurer in the ninth of King Edward the fourth Anno 1469. Let me adde he was the last Clergy-man that ever discharged that Office until Bishop Juxton in our days was preferred thereunto He died Aug. 4. 1478. and lies buried between two Marble Pillars in his Church having bestowed much cost in the reparation of the famous Bellfrie thereof Since the Reformation GEORGE COOKE D. D. Brother to Sir John Cooke Secretary of State was born at Trusley in this County bred in Pembroke Hall in Cambridge Afterwards he was beneficed at Bigrave in Hertford-shire where a lean Village consisting of but three Houses maketh a fat Living Hence he was successively made Bishop of Bristol and Hereford A meek grave and quiet man much beloved of such who were subjected to his jurisdiction He was in the same condemnation with the rest of his Brethren for subscribing the PROTEST in Parliament in preservation of their Priviledges The times trod so heavily upon him that though he ever was a thrifty person they not onely bruised the Foot but brake the Body of his Estate so that he had felt want if not relieved by his rich relations dying about the year 1650. States-Men Sir JOHN COOKE younger Brother to Sir Francis Cooke was born at Trusley in the Hundred of Appletree in this County of ancient and Worshipful Parentage allied to the best Family in this County He was bred Fellow of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge and being chosen Rhetorick Lecturer in the University grew eminent for his Ingenious and Critical Readings in that School on that Subject He then travailed beyond the Seas for some years returning thence rich in foraign Language Observations and Experience Being first related to Sir Fulk Grivell Lord Brook he was thence preferred to be Secretary of the Navy then Master of the
happened hath been shewn to some eminent Lawyers riding that Circuit which are yet alive However no violent impression is intimated in this his peaceable Epitaph on his Monument in Amerie Church Hic jacet Will. Hankford Miles quondam Capitalis Justiciarius Domini R. de Banco qui obiit duodecimo Die Decembris Anno Domini 1422. cujus c. His Figure is portraied kneeling and out of his mouth in a Label these two sentences do proceed 1 Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam 2 Beati qui custodiant judicium faciunt justitiam omni tempore No charitable Reader for one unadvised act will condemn his Memory who when living was habited with all requisites for a person of his place Sir JOHN FORTESCUE was born of a right Ancient and Worthy Family in this County first fixed at Wimpstone in this Shire but since prosperously planted in every part thereof They give for their Motto Forte Scutum Salus Ducum and it is observable that they attained eminency in what Profession soever they applyed themselves In the Field In Westminster Hall In the Court. Sir HEN FORTESCUE a valiant and fortunate Commander under King Henry the Fifth in the French Wars by whom he was made Governour of Meux in Berry Sir HEN. FORTESCUE was Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and justly of great esteem for his many vertues especially for his sincerity in so tempting a place Sir JOHN FORTESCUE that wise Privy Councellor Overseer of Queen Elizabeth her Liberal Studies And Chancellor of the Exchequer and Dutchy of Lancaster Sir ADRIAN FORTESCUE Porter of the Town of Calice came over with King Henry the Seventh and effectually assisting him to regain the Crown was by him deservedly created Knight Banneret Sir JOHN FORTESCUE our present Subject Lord Chief Justice and Chancellour of England in the Raign of King Henry the Sixth whose learned Commentaries on the Law make him famous to all posterity  Sir LEWIS POLLARD of Kings Nimet in this County Sergeant of the Law and one of the Justices of the Kings Bench in the time of King Henry the Eighth was a man of singular knowledg and worth who by his Lady Elizabeth had Eleven Sons whereof four attained the honour of Knighthood Sir Hugh Sir John of Ford. Sir Richard Sir George who got his honour in the defence of Bullen All the rest especially John Arch Deacon of Sarum and Canon of Exeter were very well advanced Eleven Daughters married to the most potent Families in this County and most of them Knights So that what is said of Cork in Ireland that all the Inhabitants therein are Kinne by this Match almost all the Ancient Gentry in this County are allied The Portraiture of Sir Lewis and his Lady with their two and twenty Children are set up in a Glasse Window at Nimet-Bishop There is a Tradition continued in this Family that the Lady glassing the Window in her husbands absence at the term in London caused one child more then she then had to be set up presuming having had one and twenty already and usually conceiving at her husbands coming home she should have another child which inserted in expectance came to passe accordingly This memorable Knight died Anno 1540. Sir JOHN DODERIDG Knight was born at ...... in this County bred in Exeter Colledg in Oxford where he became so general a Scholar that it is hard to say whether he was better Artist Divine Civil or Common Lawyer though he fixed on the last for his publick Profession and became second Justice of the Kings Bench. His soul consisted of two Essentials Ability and Integrity holding the Scale of Justice with so steady an hand that neither love nor lucre fear or flattery could bow him on either side It was vehemently suspected that in his time some gave large sums of money to purchase places of Judicature And Sir John is famous for the expression That as old and infirm as he was he would go to Tyburn on foot to see such a man hang'd that should proffer money for a place of that nature For certainly those who buy such Offices by whole sale must sell Justice by retail to make themselves savers He was commonly called the Sleeping Judg because he would sit on the Bench with his eyes shut which was onely a posture of attention to sequester his sight from distracting objects the better to lissen to what was alledged and proved Though he had three Wives successively out of the respectful Families of Germin Bamfield and Culme yet he left no issue behind him He kept a Hospital House at Mount-Radford neer Exeter and dying Anno Domini 1628. the thirteenth day of September after he had been seventeen years a Judg in the seventy third year of his age was interred under a stately Tomb in our Ladys Chappel in Exeter To take my leave of the Devonian Lawyers they in this County seem innated with a Genius to study Law none in England Northfolk alone excepted affording so many Cornwal indeed hath a Famine but Devon-shire makes a Feast of such who by the practice thereof have raised great Estates Three Sergeants were all made at one Callâ—… Sergeant Glanvil the Elder Dew and Harris of whom it was commonly said though I can nor care not to appropriate it respectively One Gained as much as the other two Spent Gave One Town in this Shire Tavistock by name furnisheth the Bar at this present with a Constellation of Pleaders wherein the biggest Stars Sergeant Glanvil who shineth the brighter for being so long eclipsed and Sergeant Maynard the Bench seeming sick with long longing for his sitting thereon As it is the Honour of this County to breed such able Lawyers so is it its happinesse that they have most of their Clients from other Shires and the many Suits tried of this County proceed not so much from the Litigiousnesse as Populousnesse of her Inhabitants Souldiers Sir RICHARD GREENVIL Knight lived and was richly landed at Bediford in this County He was one of the Twelve Peers which accompanied Robert Fitz-Haimon in his expedition against the Welsh when he overthrew Rhese ap Theodore Prince of South-Wales and Justine Lord of Glamorgan and divided the conquered Countrey betwixt those his Assistants This Sir Richard in my apprehension appears somewhat like the Patriarch Abraham For he would have none make him rich but God alone though in his partage good land was at Neath Nidum a City in Antoninus in Glamorgan-shire allotted unto him Indeed Abraham gave the tenth to God in Melchisedeck and restored the rest to the King of Sodom the former proprietary thereof This Knight according to the Devotion of those darker dayes gave all to God erecting and endowing a Monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary at Neath for Cistertians bestowing all his military Acquests on them for their maintenance so that this Convent was valued at 150 li. per. annum at the dissolution Thus having finished and setled this foundation he
strength thereof and wise conduct of their General The Loyal English did rather gaze on than pray for him as ignorant of his intentions and the Apostle observeth that the private man knoweth not how to say Amen to what is spoken in an unknown Language Now the scales began to fall down from the eyes of the English Nation as from Saul when his sight was received sensible that they were deluded with the pretences of Religion and Liberty into Atheisme and Vassallage They had learnt also from the Souldiers whom they so long had quartered to cry out One and All each Shire setting forth a Remonstrance of their grievances and refusing farther payment of Taxes Lambert cometh forth of London abounding with more outward advantages than General Monk wanted Dragon like he breathed out nought but fire and fury chiefly against the Church and Clergy But he met with a Saint George who struck him neither with sword nor spear but gave his Army a mortal wound without wounding it His Souldiers dwindled away and indeed a private person Lambert at last was little more must have a strong and long hand on his own account to hold an whole Army together The Hinder part of the Parliament sitting still at Westminster plied him with many Messengers and Addresses He returned an answer neither granting nor denying their desires giving them hope too little to trust yet too much to distrust him He was an absolute Riddle and no ploughing with his Heifer to expound him Indeed had he appeared what he was he had never been what he is a Deliverer of his Countrey But such must be as dark as midnight who mean to atchieve Actions as bright as Noon-day Then was he put on the unwellcome Office to pluck down the Gates of London though it pleased God that the Odium did not light on him that acted but those who imployed him Hence forward he sided effectually with the City I say the City which if well or ill affected was then able to make us a happy or unhappy Nation Immediately followed that TURN of our TIMES which all the World with wonder doth behold But let us not look so long on second causes as to lose the sight of the Principal Divine Providence Christ on the Crosse said to his Beloved Disciple behold thy Mother and said to her behold thy Sonne Thus was he pleased effectually to speak to the hearts of the English Behold your Soveraign which inspirited them with Loyalty and a longing desire of his presence saying likewise to our Gracious Soveraign Behold thy Subjects which encreased his ardent affection to return and now blessed be God both are met together to their mutual comfort Since the Honours which he first deserved have been conferred upon him compleated with the Title of the Duke of Albemarle and Master of his Majâ—…sties Horse c. Nor must it be forgotten that he carried the Scepter with the Dove thereupon the Emblem of Peace at the Kings Coronation But abler Pens will improve these Short Memoires into a large History Sea-men WILLIAM WILFORD was a Native nigh Plymouth in this County a valiant and successeful Sea-man It happened in the Raign of King Henry the Fourth that the French out of Britain by a sudden Invasion burnt sixteen hundred Houses in Plymouth if there be not a mistake in the figures which I vehemently suspect Sure it was a most sad desolation remembred at this day in the division of Plymouth whereof the one part is called the Britons-side the other the Old-Town But let the French boast their gain when the Game is ended which now was but began This fire enflamed all the English and especially our Wilford with desire of revenge Within a short time he made them to pay besides costs and charges more than sixfold damages by taking forty ships on the Coast of Britains and burning as many at Penarch besides many Towns and Villages for six leagues together I collect the death of this W. Wilford to be about the beginning of the Raign of King Henry the Fifth Sr. HVMPHREY GILBERT or Jilbert or Gislibert was born at Green-way in this County the pleasant Seat of his Family for a long continuance He was famous for his knowledg both by Sea and Land In the year 1569 he valiantly and fortunately served in Ireland Afterwards he led nine Companies to the assistance of the Hollanders In the year 1583 he set forth with five ships to make discoveries in the North of America where he took Sezin and Possession of New-Found-Land according to the Ancient Solemn Ceremony of cutting a Turf for the Crown of England He resolved to adventure himself in his Return in a Vessel of sorty Tun. And with two ships the onely remains of five did make for England In the instant of their winding about I may confidently report what is generally in this County averred and believed A very great Lion not swimming after the manner of a Beast with the motion of his feet nor yet diving sometimes under water and rising again as Porpyces and Dolphins do but rather gliding on the water with his whole body except legs in sight shunned not the ship nor the Marriners who presented themselves in view but turning his head too and fro yawning and gaping wide made a horrible roaring It is conceived no Spectrum or Apparition but a real fish seeing we read that such like a Lion in all lineaments was taken at Sea Anno 1282. and presented to Pope Martin the Fourth Instantly a terrible Tempest did arise and Sir Humphrey said cheerfully to his companions We are as neer Heaven here at Sea as at Land Nor was it long before his ship sunck into the Sea withal therein though the other recovered home like Jobs Messengers to bring the tydings of the destruction of their companions This sad accident happened 158. ....... COCK I am sorry I cannot add his Christian Name and more sorry that I cannot certainly avouch his Nativity in this County though inclined with many motives to believe it being a Cock of the Game indeed For in the Eighty eight Solus Cockus Anglus in sua inter medios hostes navicula cum laude periit And whereas there was not a noble Family in Spain but lost either Son Brother or Nephew in that Fight this Cock was the onely man of note of the English who fighting a Volanteer in his own ship lost his life to save his Queen and Countrey Unus homo nobis pereundo restituit rem Pity it is his memory should ever be forgotten and my Pen is sensible of no higher preferment then when it may be permitted to draw the Curtains about those who have died in the bed of Honour Sir FRANCIS DRAKE Having formerly in my Holy State written his life at large I will forbear any addition and onely present this Tetrastrick made on his Corps when cast out of the Ship wherein he died into the Sea Religio quamvis Romana
Raigns in that Book for profound penning discoverable from the rest of the different style and much Scripture scited therein Mr. Guillim in his Heraldry was much beholden to this Doctors Emendations He was a greater Lover of Coyns than of Money rather curious in the stamps than Covetous for the Mettall thereof That excellent Collection in Oxford Library was his Gift to the Arch-bishop before the Arch-bishop gave it to the University He dyed March 25. 1641. Benefactors to the Publick JOAN TUCKVILE a Merchants Widdow in this City first procured the possession then the consecration of a parcel of Ground which she had fairly compassed about for the Interment ofsuch as were executed at Hevie-tree hard by allowing Land to buy a shrone for every one of them that such as dyed Malefactors might be buried as men yea as Christians who having passed under the hand of Justice received a Boon from her hand who was mercifull to the dead This I may call exemplary Charity indeed as which set a coppie for others but such as hitherto hath not to my knowledg by any been transcribed She dyed about the beginning of the Raign of Queen Elizabeth The Farewel Malice knoweth no other Heaven than to do mischief to others though thereby no good to it fels Such the spite of the Cornish Rebels besieging Exeter who to damnifie the City damned and stopped up the Channel of the River EX near to a Village thence called Weare at this day to such a degree that thereby the accesse of lesser Vessels is much hindred and of the greater ships wholly debarred Some knowing Sr. Simon Baskervile a Physician and native of this place to have a plentifull purse and publick Spirit wished he would have taken the work in hand to cure this Obstruction but it was no Physicians work to meddle therewith nor is it either powder of Steel or gilded pils which can do the deed but onely pills of massy gold and silver so expensive is the performance Indeed several Acts of* Parliament have ordered the removeal of these Stoppages but nothing is effected in this kinde these real Remoraes remaining as before It is urged as an Argument of Aristotle against the conceit of Plato his having all Women in common and their Children to be brougbt up on the publique charge that then the Education of such Children will be neglected because whâ—…t is ever mans work is no manswork The truth hereof appeareth in the slow avoiding of these steam 〈◊〉 I could heartily wish that one Act of Parliament more an Eunuch yet not barren may be made eunuch that it may beget no more Acts to cause the retarding and elongation of this work yet not barren that it may effectually remedy this Grievance and that a general good be no longer postponed to mens private profit DORCET-SHIRE DORCET-SHIRE It hath Devonshire on the West Somerset and Wilt-shire on the North Hant shire on the East and the Narrow Sea on the South extending from East to West about forty miles though not past six and twenty the broadest part thereof It hath a self-sufficiency of all Commodities necessary for mans temporal well-being and needs not be beholding to any neighbouring County for it can 1. Feed it self with fine Wheat fat Flesh dainty Fowle wild and tame fresh Fish from Sea and Rivers To this meat it yieldeth that sawce without which all the rest is little worth I mean Salt made here in some measure but which hath been and may be in more abundance 2. Cloathe it self with its own Wooll and Broad-cloath made thereof and it is believed that no place in England affordeth more Sheep in so small a compass as this County about Dorchester And as they are provided for warmth in their Woollen so for cleanliness with their Linnen-cloath great store of good Flax and Hemp growing therein 3. Build its own Houses with good Timber out of Black-more Forrest and with if not better I am sure more Freestone out of Portland most approaching that of Normandy as in position so in the purity thereof Nor wanteth it veins of Marble in the Isles of Purbeck And to all this an excellent Air and the conveniency of a Sea to export for their profit and import for their pleasure as whose necessities were provided for before Natural Commodities Tenches Plenty hereof are bred in the River Stowre which is so much the more observable because generally this Fish loveth Ponds better than Rivers and Pits better then either It is very pleasant in taste and is called by some the Physician of Fishes Though in my opinion may better be styled the Surgeon for it is not so much a disease as a wound that he cureth nor is it any potion but a playster which he affordeth viz. his Natural unctuous glutinousness which quickly consolidateth any green gâ—…sh in any fish But the Pike is principally beholding unto him for cures in that kind and some have observed that that Tyrant though never so hungry forbeareth to eat this Fish which is his Physician not that Pikes are capable which many men are not of gratitude but that they are indued with a natural policy not to destroy that which they know not how soon they may stand in need of Tobacco-Pipe-Clay This is a fine Clay which will burn white while others turn red found in several parts of England but so far from the Sea it will not quit cost of portage to London save from two places 1. Poole in this County 2. Isle of Wight This wrought alone makes an hard Pipe but so shrunk and shriveled it is unhandsome to the eye This wrought alone makes a fair and full Pipe but so brittle that it is uncerviceable for use Both compounded together make these Utensils both hard and handsome This Clay brought to London by Ship for Ballast is there worth about Thirty shillings the Tun. Hemp. England hath no better than what groweth here betwixt Remister and Byrdport the use whereof is of absolute necessity for cordage cloathing c. So that a man may admire that the seed being so profitable and our Land affording so much strong and dèep ground proper for the same so little is sown thereof The rather because Hemp in effect secureth it self first against Cattel against which it is its own fence seeing none Deer only excepted will offer to eat thereof Secondly from thieves not because it is ominous for them to steal that which is the instrument of their execution but because much pains which idle persons hate at their hearts is required to reduce Hemp to profit whilest Wheat and Barley left in the field are more subject to Felony as which when threshed will render a present profit But see more of this Commodity in Lincoln-shire To these we may adde Rubia Silvestris VVild Madder which groweth at Hodhill in this County on the next side of the River at Stur-paine two miles from Blanford at Warham likewise and at other
places and at a place called Somervill near to Chappel which by the landing place as ye come from Altferrâ—… to Chesil is in great abundance It is an assured remedy for the Yellow Jaundice openeth the obstructions of the Spleen c. Buildings The Houses of the Gentry herein are built rather to be lived in than to be looked on very low in their scituation for warmth and other conveniencies Indeed the rhime holds generally true of the English structures The North for Greatness the East for Health The South for Neatness the West for Wealth However amongst the Houses in this County Lullworth Castle and Sherburn-Lodge are most eminent escaping pretty well in the late war so that they have cause neither to brag nor complain Proverbs As much a kin as Lenson-hill to Pilsen-pen That is no kin at all It is spoke of such who have vicinity of habitation or neighbourhood without the least degree of consanguinity or affinity betwixt them For these are two high hills the first wholy the other partly in the Parish of Broad Windsor whereof once I was Minister Yet Reader I assure thee that Sea-Men make the nearest Relation betwixt them calling the one the Cow the other the Calf in which forms it seems they appear first to their fancies being eminent Sea-marks to such as sail along these Coasts And although there be many Hills interposing betwixt these and the Sea which seem higher to a land Traveller yet these surmount them all so incompetent a Judge and so untrue a Surveyor is an ordinary eye of the Altitude of such places Stab'd with a Byrdport Dagger That is hang'd or executed at the Gallowes The best if not the most Hemp for the quantity of ground growing about Byrdport a Market Town in this County And hence it is that there is an ancient Statute though now disused and neglected that the Cable Ropes for the Navy Royal were to be made there abouts as affording the best Tackling for that purpose Dorset-shire Dorsers Dorsers are Peds or Panniers carried on the backs of Horses on which Haglers use to ride and carry their Commodities It seems this homely but most useful implement was either first found out or is most generally used in this County where Fish-Jobbers bring up their Fish in such contrivances above an hundred miles from Lime to London Saints EDWARD son to Edgar King of England was in his Child-hood bred under the cruel correction of Elfrida his Mother-in-law who used for small faults to whip him with Wax-Candles In so much that it is reported it made such an impression in this young Princes memory that when a man he could not endure the sight of Wax-Candles But Edward afterwards outgrew his Mothers tuition and succeeded his Father in his Throne However such her ambition that advantaged with the others easiness of nature She managed most matter of State leaving her Son in-law little more than the bare title of Soveraign Not contented herewith and to derive the Scepter to her own Son Ethelred caused him to be stab'd at Corfe Castle in this County coming in a civil visit unto her His hidden â—…ody being miraculously discovered was first buried at Warham and thence removed to Shaftsbury which Town for a time was termed Saint Edwards from his interment His murder hapned about the year of our Lord 978. Cardinals JOHN MORTON was born at Saint Andrews Milborne in this County of a right Worshipful Family still extant therein He was bred in Oxford and after many mediate preferments made Bishop of Ely Anno 1578. Not long after when many groaned under the Tyranny of King Richard the third this Prelate first found out the design of marrying Elizabeth eldest daughter to Edward the fourth of the House of York to Henry Earl of Richmond the last who was left of the line of Lancaster Indeed the Earls title to the Crown was not enough to make a countenance therewith much less a claim thereto but as the Lady had a Title and wanted a man to manage it the Earl was man enough to manage any design but wanted a Title and pursuing this advice by Gods blessing he gained the Crown by the name of Henry the seventh In expression of his gratitude he made this Bishop Chancellor of England and afterwards Arch-Bishop of Canterbury He was a great instrument in advancing a voluntary Contribution to the King through the Land perswading Prodigals to part with their money because they did spend it most and the Covetous because they might spare it best So making both extreams to meet in one medium to supply the Kings necessities who though prodigiously rich may be said always to need because never-satisfied This Bishop with vast cost cut a new Channel in the Fennes for the publick good but it neither answered his expectation nor expence He was magnificent in his buildings and bountiful to poor Scholars enjoyning his Executors to maintain twenty poor Scholars in Oxford and ten in Cambridge twenty years after his death which hapned in October 1500. Prelates JOHN STAFFORD Son to Humphrey Stafford sixth Earl of Stafford was born at Hooke in this County then a most stately House belonging to this Family and bred a Doctor of the Laws in Oxford he was afterwards Dean of the Arches and Dean of Saint Martins This was a fair Colledge near Aldersgate in London founded Anno 1056. by Ingelricus and Edvardus his Brother priviledged by our Kings of England with great immunities the cause of many and high contests betwixt this Colledge and the City of London Afterwards he was made Bishop of Wells and for eighteen years a continuance hardly to be parallel'd was Chancellor of England At last he was advanced Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and no Prelate his Peer in Biâ—…th and preâ—…erment hath either less good or less evil recorded of him He died at Maidstone 1452. and lies buried in Canterbury ROBERT MORTON was Brothers Son to Cardinal Morton of whom before whose Father had a fair Habitation at Saint Andrews Milborne in this County His relation to so good an Uncle mixed with his own merits preferred him to the Bishoprick of Worcester Of whom we have little more than the date of his consecration 1486. and of his Death 1497. He lieth buried in the body of Saint Pauls Church in London JAMES TURBERVIL or De turbida villa was born of a worshipful Family who long have lived in great account in this County â—… First a Monk but afterwards brought up in New-Colledge in Oxford He was consecrated Bishop of Exeter 1556. and deserved right well of that See When he entred thereon it was most true what his Successor therein since said That the Bishop of Exeter was a Baron but a Bare one so miserably that Cathedral had been pilled and polled But Bishop Turbervil recovered some lost lands which Bishop Voysey had vezed and particularly obtained of Queen Mary the â—…estitution of the fair Manor of
Richard Bingham who is sent over with more honour and power Marshal of Ireland and General of Lâ—…mster to undertake that service whereof no doubt he had given a good account had not death overtaken him at Dublin Wherever buried he hath a Monument of mention in the South side of Westminster Abbey Sea Men. RICHARD CLARK of VVeymouth in this County was a most knowing Pilot and Master of the Ship called the Delight which Anno 1583. went with Sir Humphrey Gilbert for the discovery of Norembege Now it happened without any neglect or default in the same Richard how that Ship struck on ground and was cast away in the year aforesaid on Thursday August 29. Yet wave followed not wâ—…ve faster than wonder wonder in the miraculous preservation of such as escaped this Shipwrack 1. Sixteen of them got into a small Boat of a Tun and half which had but one Oar to work withal 2. They were seventy leagues from Land and the weather so soul that it was not possible for a Ship to brook half a course of Sail. 3. The Boat being over-burdened one of them Mr. Hedly by name made a motion to cast Lots that those four which drew the shortest should be cast over-board provided if one of the Lots fell on the Master he notwithstanding should be preserved as in whom all their safety were concerned 4. Our Richard Clark their Master disavowed any acceptance of such priviledge replying they would live or die together 5. On the fifth day Mr. Hedly who first motioned Lot-drawing and another died whereby their Boat was somewhat allightned 6. For five days and nights they saw the Sun and Stars but once so that they onely kept up their Boat with their single Oar going as the Sea did drive it 7. They continued four days without any sustenance save what the Weeds which swam in the Sea and salt water did afford 8. On the seventh day about eleven a clock they had sight of and about three they came on the South part of New found land 9. All the time of their being at Sea the wind kept continually Soâ—…th which if it had shifted on any other Point they had never come to land but came contrary at the North within half an hour after their arrival 10. Being all come safe to Shore they kneeled down and gave God praise as they justly might for their miraculous deliverance 11. They remained there three days and nights having their plentiful repast upon Berries and wild Peason 12. After five days rowing along the shore they hapned on a Spanish Ship of Saint John de Luz which courteously brought them home to Biskay 13. The Visitors of the Inquisition coming aboard the Ship put them on examination but by the Masters favour and some general Answers they escaped for the present 14. Fearing a second search they shifted for themselves and going twelve miles by night got into France and so safely arrived in England Thus we may conclude with the Psalmist They which do go down into the Sea and occupy in the great waters These men see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep GEORGE SUMMERS Knight was born in or near Lyme though on my best enquiry living some years within seven miles of the place I could not attain the exactness thereof He afterwards was a successful Voyager into far distant Countries and first discovered the Bermuda's from and by him named the Summer Islands A Plantation though slighted of late whether for want of industry in the Planters or staple Commodities I hnow not yet were it in the hand of the Spaniard as by Gods blessing never shall it would be over-considerable unto us Yea that which now is quarrelled at for not feeding us with any provision might then stop the mouths yea knock out the teeth of such who now so undervalue it I say they were called the Summer Islands from this Knight which I conceive necessary to observe For I find that though the County of Somerset is undoubtedly so called from Sommerton once the principal Town therein yet because that Town at this day is mean and obscure some have strongly fancied and stifly defended it so named from the Summer the fruitfulnesse whereof so appeareth therein Possiâ—…ly in processe of time with a more probable cover for their mistake these Summer Islands may be conceived so named because there Winter doth never appear This Sir George Summers was a Lamb on the Land so patient that few could anger him and as if entring a ship he had assumed a new nature a Lion at Sea so passionate that few could please him He died modest conjectures are better than confident untruths about the year of our Lord 1610. Before we take our final farewell of the Seamen in this County I conceive fit that the following Note should not be forgotten Anno 1587. when Tho. Cavendish Esq was in the pursuit of his Voyage about the world some of his men August 1. went a shoar at Cape Quintero to fetch fresh water when two hundred Spanish Horsemen came poudring from the Hills upon them They being hard at work in no readiness to resist suddenly surprized and over-powered in number were slâ—…in to the number of twelve men a third of which losse fell on this county whose names ensue 1. William Kingman of Dorset-shire in the Admiral 2. William Biet of VVeymouth in the Vice Admiral 3. Henry Blacknals of Weymouth In the Hugh-Gallant 4. William Pit of Sherborne In the Hugh-Gallant But their surviving Country-men being but fifteen in number who had any weapons on the shoar soon revenged their death who coming from the works not only rescued the rest but also â—…orced the enemy to retire with the losse of 25. of his men and then watered there in despight of all opposition Civilians Sir THOMAS RYVES Doctor of the Laws was born at Little Langton in this County bred in New Colledge in Oxford A general Scholar in all polite learning a most pure Latinist no hair hanging at the neb of his Pen witness his most critical Book of Sea-Battels a Subject peculiar I think to his endeavours therein He was at last made the Kings Advocate indeed he formerly had been Advocate to the King of heaven in his poor Ministers in his Book entituled The Vicars Plea wherein much Law and Learning and Reason and Equity is shewen in their bâ—…half A grievance 〈◊〉 camplained of than heard oftner heard than pitied and oftner 〈◊〉 than redressd so unequal is the contest betwixt a poor Vicars Plea and a wealthy Impropriators Purse He was a man of valour as well as of much learning and gave good evidence therof though wel stricken in years in our late wars He died in his native County about the year 1652 Benefactors to the Publick since the Reformation ROBERT ROGERS born at Poole in this County was afterwards a Leather-seller in London and dying a rich Batchelor bequeathed a great part
after so many years distance and a colder suit being to encounter a Corporation of Learned Lawyers so long in the peaceable possession thereof Bishop Nevil was afterwards canonically chosen by the Monks and confirmed hy King Henry the third Arch-bishop of Canterbury being so far from rejoycing thereat that he never gave any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or reward for their good news to the two Monks which brought him tidings nor would allow any thing toward the discharging their costly journey to Rome foreseeing perchance that the Pope would stop his Consecration For some informed his Holiness that this Ralph was a Prelate of High Birth haughty Stomach great Courtship gracious with the King and a person probable to disswade him from paying the Pension promised by his Father K. Iohn to the Court of Rome then no wonder if his Consecration was stopped theron But was it not both an honor happiness to our Nevil thus to be crost with the hands of his Holiness himself yea it seems that no Crosier save only that of Chichester would fit his hand being afterwards elected Bish. of Winchester then obstructed by the K. who formerly so highly favor'd him He built a Chappell without the east gate of Chichester dedicated to S. Michael and having merited much of his own Cathedral died at London 1244. ALEX. NEVIL third Son of Ralph Lord Nevil was born at Raby became first Canon then Arch-Bishop of York where he beautified and fortified the Castle of Cawood with many Turrets He was highly in Honour with King Richard the second as much in hatred with the party opposing him These designed to imprison him putting Prelates to death not yet in fashion in the Castle of Rochester had not our Alexander prevented them by his flight to Pope Urban to Rome who partly out of pity that he might have something for his support and more out of policy that York might be in his own disposal upon the removal of this Arch-Bishop translated him to Saint Andrews in Scotland and so dismissed him with his Benediction Wonder not that this Nevil was loth to go out of the Popes blessing into a cold Sun who could not accept this his new Arch Bishoprick in point of credit profit or safety 1. Credit For this his translation was a Post-Ferment seeing the Arch-Bishoprick of Saint Andrews was subjected in that age unto York 2. Profit The Revenues being far worse than those of York 3. Safety Scotland then bearing an Antipathy to all English and especially to the Nevils redoubted for their victorious valour in those northern parts and being in open hostility against them Indeed half a loaf is better than no bread but this his new translation was rather a stone than half a loaf not filling his Belly yet breaking his Teeth if feeding thereon This made him preferre the Pastorall Charge of a Parish Church in Lovaine before his Arch-noBishoprick where he died in the fifth year of his Exile and was buried there in the Convent of the Carmelites ROB. NEVIL sixth Son of Ralph first Earl of Westmerland by Joane his second VVife Daughter of Iohn of Gaunt bred in the University of Oxford and Provost of Beverly was preferred Bishop of Sarisbury in the sixth of King Henry the sixth 1427. During his continuance therein he was principal Founder of a Convent at Sunning in Berkshire anciently the Bishops See of that Diocess valued at the dissolution saith Bishop Godwin at 682 l. 14 s. 7 d. ob which I rather observe because the estimation thereof is omitted in my and I suspect all other Speeds Catalogue of Religious Houses From Sarisbury he was translated to Durham where he built a place called the Exchequer at the Castle gate and gave in allusion of his two Bishopricks which he successively enjoyed two Annulets innected in his Paternal Coat He died Anno Dom. 1457. GEO. NEVIL fourth Son of Rich. Nevil Earl of Salisbury was born at Midleham in this Bishoprick bred in Baliol Colledge in Oxford consecrated Bishop of Exeter when he was not as yet twenty years of age so that in the race not of age but youth he clearly beat Tho. Arundel who at twenty two was made Bishop of Ely Some say this was contrary not only to the Canon Law but Canonical Scripture S. Paul forbidding such a Neophyte or Novice admission into that Office as if because Rich. the make-King Earl of Warwick was in a manner above Law this his Brother also must be above Canons His Friends do plead that Nobility and Ability supplyed age in him seeing five years after at 25. he was made Lord Chancellor of England and discharged it to his great commendation He was afterwards made Arch-bishop of York famous for the prodigious Feast at his Installing wherein besides Flesh Fish and Fowle so many strange Dishes of Gellies And yet amongst all this service I meet not with these two But the inverted Proverb found truth in him One GluttonMeal makes many hungry ones for some years after falling into the displeasure of King Edward the fourth he was flenderly dyetted not to say famished in the Castle of Calis and being at last restored by the Intercession of his Friends died heart-broken at Blyth and was buried in the Cathedral of York 1476. Besides these there was another Nevil Brother to Alexander aforesaid chosen Bishop of Ely but death or some other intervening accident hindered his Consecration Since the Reformation ROBERT HORN was born in this Bishoprick bred in Saint Johns Colledge in Cambridge Going thence under the raign of King Edward the sixth he was advanced Dean of Durham In the Marian days he fled into Germany and fixing at Frankford became the head of the Episcopal party as in my Ecclesiastical History at large doth appear Returning into England he was made Bishop of VVinchester Feb. 16. 1560. A worthy man but constantly ground betwixt two opposite parties Papists and Sectaries Both of these in their Pamphlets sported with his name as hard in Nature and crooked in Conditions not being pleased to take notice how Horn in Scripture importeth Power Preferment and Safety both twitted his person as dwarfish and deformed to which I can say nothing none alive remembring him save that such taunts though commonly called ad Hominem are indeed ad Deum and though shot at Man does glance at Him who made us and not we our selves Besides it shews their malice runs low for might though high for spight who carp at the Case when they cannot find fault with the Jewel For my part I mind not the Mould wherein but the Metal whereof he was made and lissen to Mr. Cambden his Character of him Valido foecundo ingenio of a sprightful and fruitful wit He died in Southwark June 1. 1589. and lyeth buried in his own Cathedral near to the Pulpit And now Reader I crave leave to present thee with the Character of one who I confess falls not under my Pen
according to the strictness of the Rules which we proposed to follow as not being of the number of those Bishops who may not unfitly be termed with Noah righteous in their Generations having seen two Sets if I may so speak of their Order but preferred to that Dignity since our late happy Revolution He is here fixed though no Native of this County because the fittest place I conceive it is happy when the Antidote meets the Poyson where it was first suck'd in seeing formerly treating in my Church History of this Cathedral I delivered his Character to his disadvantage very defectively JOHN COSEN D. D. was born in the City of Norwich bred in Cays Colledge in Cambridge whereof he was Fellow Hence was he removed to the Mastership of Peter-House in the same University One whose abilities quick apprehension solid Judgement variety of Reading c. are sufficiently made known to the world in his learned Books whereby he hath perpetuated his name to posterity I must not pass over his constancy in his Religion which rendereth him aimable in the eys not of good men only but of that God with whom there is no variableness nor shâ—…dow of changing It must be confessed that a sort of fond people surmised as if he had once been declining to the PopishPerswasion Thus the dim sighted complain of the darkness of the room when alas the fault is in their own eyes and the lame of the unevenness of the floor when indeed it lieth in their unsound leggs Such were the silly folk their understandings the eys of their minds being darkned and their affections the feet of their soul made lame by prejudice who have thus falsly conceited of this worthy Doctor However if any thing that I delivered in my Church History relating therein a Charge drawn up against him for urging of some Ceremonies without inserting his Purgation which he effectually made clearing himself from the least imputation of any fault hath any way augmented this opinion I humbly crave pardon of him for the same Sure I am were his Enemies now his Judges had they the least spark of ingenuity they must acquit him if proceeding according to the evidence of his Writing Living Disputing Yea whilest he remained in France he was the Atlas of the Protestant Religion supporting the same with his Piety and Learning confirming the wavering therein yea dayly adding Proselytes not of the meanest rank thereunto Since the return of our gracious Soveraign and the reviving of swooning Episcopacy he was deservedly preferred Bishop of Durham And here the Reader must pardon me if willing to make known my Acquaintance with so eminent a Prelate When one in his presence was pleased with some Propositions wherein the Pope condescended somewhat to the Protestants he most discreetly returned in my hearing We thank him not at all for that which God hath always allowed us in his Word adding withall He would allow it us so long as it stood with his Policy and take it away so soon as it stood with his Power And thus we take our leave of this Worthy Prelate praying for his long life that he mâ—…y be effectual in advancing the settlement of our yet distracted Church Civilians RICHARD COSIN Doctor of Law was born at Hartly Poole a well known harbour for the safety and some observe a providence that he who afterwards was to prove the grand Champion of Episcopacy should amongst all the counties of England be born in 〈◊〉 â—…ishoprick His Father was a person of quality a Captain of a Company in Mustâ—…borough field whence his valour returned with victory and wealth when crossing the River Tweed O the uncertainty of all earthly happiness was drowned therein to the great losse of his Son Richard and greater because he was not sensible thereof as left an infant in the cradle His Mother afterwards married one Mr. Meddow a York-shire Genâ—…leman who bred this his Son-in-law at a Schoole at Scypton in the Craven wherein such his proficiency that before he was twelue years old little less than a wonder to me in that age from so far a Country he was admitted in Trinity Colledge in Cambridge Some of his Friends in Queens Colledge in that University had a design to fetch him thence had not Doctor Beamont prevented the Plot in making him Scholar and Fellow as soon as by his Age Degree and the Statâ—…tes he was capable thereof He was a general Scholar Geometrician Musician Physician Divine but chiefly Civil and Canon Lawyer By Arch-Bishop Whitgift he was preferred to bâ—… first Chancellor of Worcester in that age a place non tam gratiosus quam negotiosus and afterwards Dean of the Arches wherein he carried himself without giving though many took offence at him Of these one wrote a Book against him called the Abstract abstracted saith my Author from all Wit Learning and Charity to whom he returned such an answer in the defence of the High Commission and Oath ex officio that he he put his Adversary to silence Others lay to his charge that he gave many Blank Licences the common occasions of unlawful marriages and the procurer herein is as bad as the thief robbing many a parent of his dear child thereby But always malice looks through a multiplying glasse Euclio complained Intromisisti sexcentos Coquos Thou hast let in six hundred Cooks when there was but two truely told Anthrax and Congrio so here was there but one which a fugitive servant stole from the Register to make his private profit thereby God in his sickness granted him his desire which he made in his health that he might be freed from torture which his corpulency did much suspect bestowing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon him a sweet and qutet departure pious his dying expressions I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Phil. 1. The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. Come Lord Jesus come quickly Revel 12. and his last words was these Farewell my surviving friends remember your mortality and eternal life He gave forty pound to the building of a Chamber in Trinity Colledge and fifteen pound per annum for the maintenance of two Scholar-ships therein a good gift out of his Estate who left not above fifty pound a year clear to his Heir a great argument of his integrity that he got no more in so gainful a place Dying at Doctors Commons he was buried by his own appointment in Lambeth Church and Doctor Andrews preached his Funeral Sermon Amongst the many verses made by the University of Cambridge this with the allowance of poetical Licence came from no bad Fancy Magna Deos inter lis est exorta creatas Horum qui lites dirâ—…mit ille deest Cosinum petiere Dii componere tantas Lites quod vero jure peritus erat It must not be forgotten that Doctor Barlow afterwards Bishop of Lincoln was bred by Doctor Cosen at his charge in his own Family who in expression of his Thankfulness wrote
their own Country Well it were if this good old custome were resumed for if where God hath given Talents men would give but Pounds I mean encourage hopefull Abilities with helpfull Maintenance able persons would never be wanting and poor men with great parts would not be excluded the Line of preferment This Sir Thomas was afterwards Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth and a grand benefactor to both Universities as I have formerly declared at large He died Anno Domini 1577. THOMAS HOWARD wherever born is justly reputed of this County wherein he had his first honour and last habitation He was second son to Thomas last Duke of Norfolk but eldest by his wife Margaret sole heir to Thomas Lord Audley Queen Elizabeth made him Baron of Audley and Knight of the Garter and King James who beheld his father a State-Martyr for the Queen of â—…ots in the first of his raign advanced him Lord Chamberlain and Earl of Suffolk and in the twelfth of his raign July 12. Lord Treasurer of England He was also Chancellour of Cambridge loving and beloved of the University When at his first coming to Cambridge Master Francis Nethersole Orator of the University made a Latine Speech unto him this Lord returned though I understand not Latine I know the Sence of your Oration is to tell me that I am wellcome to you which I believe verily thank you for it heartily and will serve you faithfully in any thing within my power Doctor Hasnet the Vice-chancellour laying hold on the Handle of so fair a Proffer requested him to be pleased to Entertain the King at Cambridge a Favour which the University could never compass from their former great and wealthy Chancellours I will do it saith the Lord in the best manner I may with the speediest conveniency Nor was he worse then his word giving his Majesty not long after so Magnificent a Treatment in the University as cost him five thousands pounds and upwards Hence it was that after his death Thomas his second son Earl of Bark-shire not suing for it not knowing of it was chosen to succeed him losing the place as some suspected not for lack of voices but fair counting them He died at Audley end Anno Domini 1626. being Grand-father to the right Honourable James Earl of Suffolk RICHARD WESTON I behold him son to Sir Jerome Weston Sheriff of this County in the one and fourtieth of Queen Elizabeth and cannot meet with any of his relations to rectifie me if erronious In his youth he impaired his estate to improve himself with publique accomplishment but came off both a saver and a gainer at the last when made Chancellor of the Exchequer and afterwards upon the remove of the Earl of Marlburrough July 15. in the fourth of King Charles Lord Treasurer of England But I hear the Cocks crow proclaiming the dawning day being now come within the ken of many alive and when mens memories do arise it is time for History to haste to bed Let me onely be a Datary to tell the Reader that this Lord was Created Earl of Portland February 17. in the eight of King Charles and died Anno Domini 163. being father to the right Honorable Jerome now Earl of Portland Capitall Judges Sir JOHN BRAMSTONE Knight was born at Maldon in this County bred up in the Middle-Temple in the study of the Common-law wherein he attained to such eminency that he was by King Charles made Lord Chief Justice of the Kings-Bench One of deep learning solid judgement integrity of life gravity of behaviour in a word accomplished with all qualities requisite for a Person of his place and profession One instance of his integrity I must not forget effectually relating to the Foundation wherein I was bred Serjeant Bruerton of whom formerly bequeathed by Will to Sidney-colledge well nigh three thousand pounds but for haste or some other accident so imperfectly done that as Doctor Samuel Ward informed me the gife was invalid in the Rigour of the Law Now Judge Bramstone who married the Serjeants Widdow gave himself much trouble gave himself indeed doing all things gratis for the speedy payment of the money to a Farthing and the legal setling thereof on the Colledge according to the true intention of the dead He deserved to live in better times the delivering his judgement on the Kings side in the case of Ship â—…oney cost him much trouble The posting Press would not be perswaded to stay till I had received farther instructions from the most Hopefull sons of this worthy Judge who died about the year 1646. Souldiers ROBERT FITZ-WALTER It is observable what I read in my Author that in the raign of King John there were three most eminent Knights in the land 〈◊〉 for their prowess viz. Robert Fitz-Roger Richard Mont-Fâ—…chet and this Robert Fitz-Walter Two of which three a fair proportion fall to be natives of this County This Robert was born at Woodham-walters and behaved himself right 〈◊〉 on all occasions highly beloved by King Richard the first and King John untill the later banished him the land because he would not prostitute his daughter to his pleasure But worth will not long want a Master the French-King joyfully entertained him till King John recalled him back again on this occasion five-years truce being concluded betwixt the two Crowns of England and France an English-man challenged any of the French to just a course or two on horse-back with him whom Fitz-Walter then oâ—… the French party undertook and at the first course with his great spear fell'd horse and man to the ground Thus then and ever since English-men generally can be worsted by none but English-men Hereupon the King next day sent for him restored his lands with license for him to repair his Castles and particularly Bainards-castle in London which he did accordingly He was styled of the common-people The Marshall of Gods Army and Holy-Church He died Anno Domini 1234. and lieth buried in the Priory of Little-Dunmow Sir JOHN HAWKEWOOD Knight Son to Gilbert Hawkewood Tanner was born in Sible heningham This John was first bound an apprentice to a Taylor in the City of London but soon turned his needle into a sword and thimble into a shield being pressed in the service of King Edward the third for his French Wars who rewarded his valour with Knighthood Now that mean men bred in manuall and mechanick trades may arrive at great skill in Martiall performances this Hawkewood though an eminent is not the onely instance of our English nation The heat of the French Wars being much remitted he went into Italy and served the City of Florence which as yet was a Free State Such Republiques preferred forrainers rather then natives for their Generalls because when the service was ended it was but disbursing their pay and then disbanding their power by cashering their Commission such Forraigners having no advantage to continue their
command and render themselves absolute because wanting an interest in alliances and relations Thus a single Stake if occasion serves is sooner plucked up then a tree fastned to the earth with the many fibrae appendant to the root thereof Great the gratitude of the State of Florence to this their Generall Hawkewood who in testimony of his surpassing valour and singular faithfull service to their State adorned him with the Statue of a man of armes and sumptuous Monument wherein his ashes remain honoured at this present day Well it is that Monument doth remain seeing his Coenotaph or honorary tombe which sometimes stood in the Parish Church of Sible-heningham arched over and in allusion to his name berebussed with Hawkes flying into a Wood is now quite flown away and abolished This Sir John Hawkewood married Domnia daughter of Barnaby the warlike brother of Galeasius Lord of Millain father to John the first Duke of Mallain by whom he had a son named John born in Italy made Knight and naturalized in the seventh year of King Henry the fourth as appeareth by the Record Johannes filius Johannis Haukewood Miles natus in partibus Italiae factus indigena Ann. 8. Hen. 4. mater ejus nata in partibus transmarinis This valiant Knight dyed very aged Anno 1394. in the eighteenth of King Richard the second his friends founding two Chantreys to pray for his and the souls of John Oliver and Thomas Newenton Esquires his military companions and which probably may be presumed born in the same County THOMAS RATCLIFF Lord Fitz-walter second Earl of Sussex of that Surname twice Lord Deputy of Ireland was a most valiant Gentleman By his prudence he caused that Actuall Rebellion brake not out in Ireland and no wonder if in his time it Rained not war there seeing his diligence dispersed the clouds before they could gather together Thus he who cures a disease may be the skilfubest but he that prevents it is the safest Physician Queen Elizâ—…beth called him home to be her Lord Chamberlain and a constant Court faction was maintained betwixt him and Robert Earl of Leicester so that the 〈◊〉 and the Leicesterians divided the Court whilst the 〈◊〉 as neuters did look upon them Sussex had a great Estate left him by his Ancestors Leicester as great given or restor'd 〈◊〉 by the Queen 〈◊〉 was the honesâ—… man and greater Souldier 〈◊〉 the more faceit 〈◊〉 and deep Politician not for the generall good but his particular profit Great the 〈◊〉 betwixt them and what in vain the Queen endeavoured death performed taking this Earl away and so the competition was 〈◊〉 New-Hall in this County was the place if not as I believe of his Birth of his principall Habitation He dyed .... ... And lyeth buried in the Church of Saint Olives Hartstreet London Sir FRANCIS and Sir HORACE VERE sons of Geffrey Vere Esquire who was son of John Vere the 〈◊〉 Earl of Oxford were both born in this County though severall places Heâ—…ngham Castle Colchester Tilbury juxta clare be by sundry men assigned for their Nativity We will first consider them severally and then compare them together Sir FRANCIS was of a fiery spirit and rigid nature undaunted in all dangers not over valuing the price of mens lives to purchase a victory therewith He served on the Scaene of all Christendome where war was acted One masterpiece of his valour was at the Battle of Newport when his Ragged Regiment so were the English then called from their ragged Cloths help'd to make all whole or else all had been lost Another was when for three years he defended Ostend against a strong and numerous Army surrendering it at last a bare skeliton to the King of Spain who paid more years purchase for it then probably the world will endure He dyed in the beginning of the raign of King James about the year of our Lord 16 ... Sir HORACE had more meekness and as much valour as his Brother so pious that he first made his peace with God before he went out to war with man One of an excellent temper it being true of him what is said of the Caspian Sea that it doth never 〈◊〉 nor Flow observing a constant Tenor neither 〈◊〉 nor depressed with success Had one seen him râ—…turning from a victory he would by his silence have suspected that he had lost the day and had he beheld him in a retreat he would have collected him a Conqueror by the chearfulness of his spirit He was the first Baron of King Charles his Creation Some years after coming to Court he fell suddenly sick and speechless so that he dyed before night Anno Domini 163. No doubt he was well prepared for death seeing such his vigilancy that never any Enemy surprised him in his quarters Now to compare them together such their Eminency that they would hardly be parallell'd by any but themselves Sir Francis was the elder Brother Sir Horace lived to be the older man Sir Francis was more feared Sir Horace more loved by the Souldiery The former in Martiall discipline was oftimes Rigidus ad ruinaâ—… The later seldome exceeded Adterrorem Sir Francis left none Sir Horace no Male issue whose four Co-heirs are since matched into Honorable families Both lived in War much Honored dyed in Peace much Lamented HENRY VERE was son of Edward Vere the seventeenth Earl of Oxford and Anne Trentham his Lady whose principall habitation the rest of his patrimony being then wasted was at Heningham Castle in this County A vigorous Gentleman full of courage and resolution and the last Lord Chamberlain of England of this Family His sturdy nature would not bow to Court-Compliants who would maintain what he spake spake what he thought think what he apprehended true and just though sometimes dangerous and distastefull Once he came into Court with a great Milk-white Feather about his hat which then was somewhat unusuall save that a person of his merit might make a fashion The Reader may guess the Lord who said unto him in some jeer My 〈◊〉 you weare a very fair feather it is true said the Earl and if you mark it there 's â—…e'r a Tâ—…int in it Indeed his family was ever Loyall to the Crown deserving their Motto VERO NIL VERIUS Going over one of the four Engish Colonells into the Low Countries and endeavouring to raise the Siedge of Bxeda he so over-heat himself with Marching Fighting and Vexing the design not succeeding that he dyed few days after Anno Domini 16 ... He married Diana one of the Co-heirs of William Earl of Exeter afterwards married to Edward Eaâ—…l of Elgin by whom he left no issue Physicians WILLIAM GILâ—…T was born in Trinity Parish in Colchester his Father being a Counsellour of great Esteem in his Profession who first removed his family thither from Clare in Suffolk where they had resided in a Gentile Equipage some Centuries of Years He had saith my informer the Clearness of Venice Glass
without the Brittleness thereof soon Ripe and long Lasting in his Perfections He Commenced Doctor in Physick and was Physician to Queen Elizabeth who Stamped on him many Marks of her Favour besides an Annuall Pension to encourage his Studies He addicted himself to Chemistry attaining to great exactness therein One saith of him that he was Stoicall but not Cynicall which I understand Reserv'd but not Morose never married purposely to be more beneficiall to his Brethren Such his Loyalty to the Queen that as if unwilling to survive he dyed in the same year with her 1603. His Stature was Tall Câ—…plexion Cheerfull an Happiness not ordinary in so hard a Student and retired a Person He lyeth buried in Trinity Church in Colchester under a plain Monument Mahomets Tombe at Mecha is said strangely to hang up attracted by some invisible Load-stone but the Memory of this Doctor will never fall to the ground which his incomparable Book De Magnete will support to Eternity Writers GERVASE of TILBURY born at that Village in this County since famous for a Câ—…mpe against the Spaniards in 88. is reported Nephew to King Henry the second But though Nepos be taken in the Latitude thereof to signify Son to Brother Sister or Child I cannot make it out by the Door and am loth to suspect his coming in by the Window This Gervase may be said by his Nativity to stand but on one foot and that on tip toes in England being born on the Sea side at the mouth of Thames and therefore no wonder if he quickly convayed himself over into Forraign Parts He became Courtier and favorite to his Kinsman Otho the fourth Emperour who conferred on him the Marshal-ship of the Arch-bishoprick of Arles which proveth the Imperiall Power in this Age over some parts of Province an office which he excellently discharged Though his person was wholly conversant in Forraign Aire his Pen was chiefly resident on English Earth writing a Chronicle of our Land and also adding illustrations to Gâ—…ffrey Monmouth He flourished Anno 1210. under King John ADAM of BARKING no mean market in this County was so termed from the Town of his Nativity Wonder not that being born in the East of England he went West-ward as far as Sherborn where he was a Benedictine for his education it being as usuall in that age for Monkes as in ours for Husbandmen to change their soil for the seed that their grain may give the greater encrease He was a good Preacher and learned Writer and surely would have soared higher if not weighed down with the ignorance of the age he lived in whose death happened Anno 1216. RALPH of COGSHALL in this County was first Canon of Barnewell nigh Cambridge and afterwards turn'd a Cistertian Monke He was a man Incredibilis frugalitatis parsimoniae but withall of great learning and abilities These qualities commended him to be Abbot of Cogshall the sixth in order after the first foundation thereof where he spent all his spare hours in writing of Chronicles and especially of additions to Radulphus Niger Afflicted in health he resigned his place and died a private person about the year 1230. ROGER of WALTHAM was so called from the place of his Nativity I confess there be many Walthams in England and three in Essex but as in Herauldry the plain Coat speaks the bearer thereof to be the best of the house whiles the younger Brethren give their Armes with differences so I presume that Waltham here without any other addition of Much Waltham Wood-Waltham c. is the Chief in that kind viz. Waltham in this County within twelve Miles of London eminent in that Age for a wealthy Abby The merit of this Roger being saith Bale tersè nitidè eleganter eruditus endeared him to Fulke Basset Bishop of London who preferred him Canon of Saint Pauls He wrot many worthy works flourishing under King Henry the third Anno Domini 1250. JOHN GODARD wherever born had his best being at Cogshall in this County where he became a Cistercian Monke Great was his skill in Arithmetick and Mathematicks a Science which had lain long asleep in the World and now first began to open it's eyes again He wrot many certain Treatises thereof and dedicated them unto Ralph Abbot of Cogshall He flourished Anno Dom. 1250. AUBREY de VERE extracted from the right Honorable Earls of Oxford was born saith my Authors in Bonaclea Villa Trenovantum Three miles srom Saint Osith by which direction we find it to be Great Bentley in this County Now although a witty Gentleman saith that Noble-men have seldome any thing in Print save their Cloths yet this Aubrey so applyed his studies that he wrote a Learned Book of the Eucharist In his old age he became an Augustinian of Saint Osiths preferring that before other places both because of the pleasant retireness thereof and because his kindred were great Benefactors to that Covent witness their Donation de septem Libratis terrae thereunto This Aubrey the most learned of all Honorable Persons in that Age Flourished Anno Domini 1250. THOMAS MALDON was born at Maldon no mean Market Town in this County anciently a City of the Romans called Camulodunum He was afterwards bred in the University of Cambridge where he Commenced Doctor of Divinity and got great reputation for his Learning being a Quick Disputant Eloquent Preacher Solid in Defining Subtle in Distinguishing Clear in Expressing Hence he was chosen Prior of his own Monastery in Maldon where he commendably discharged his place till the day of his death which happened 1404. THOMAS WALDENSIS was son to John and Maud Netter who declining the Surname of his Parents took it from Walden the noted place in this County of his Nativity so much are they mistaken that maintain that this Waldensis his name was Vuedale and that he was born in Hant-shire In some sort he may be termed Anti-Waldensis being the most professed Enemy to the Wicklevites who for the main revived and maintained the Doctrine of the Waldenses Being bred a Carmelite in London and Doctor of Divinity in Oxford he became a great Champion of yet Vassall to the Pope witness his sordid Complement consisting of a conjunction or rather confusion and misapplication of the words of Ruth to Naomi and David to Goliah Perge Domine Papa perge quò cupis ego tecum ubicunque volueris nec deseram in Authoritate Dominorum meorum incedam in armis eorum pugnabo He was in high esteem with three succeeding Kings of England and might have changed his Coul into what English Miter he pleased but refused it Under King Henry the fourth he was sent a solemn Embassadour 1410. about taking away the Schismâ—… and advancing an Union in the Church and pleaded most eloquently before the Pope and Segismund the Emperour He was Confâ—…ssor and Privy Councellour to King Henry the fifth who died in his
Bosome and whom he taxed for too much lenity to the Wicklevites so that we behold the Breath of Waldensis as the Bellows which Blew up the Coals for the burning of those Poor Christians in England under King Henry the sixth he was employed to provide at Paris all necessaries for his solemn Coronation and dying in his journey thether Anno 1430. was buried at Roan He was 16 years Provinciall of his Order throughout all England and wrot many books against the Wicklevites Bale citeth four all sorraign Authors which make him solemnly Sainted whilst Pitzeus more truly and modestly onely affirmeth that he died non sine sanctitatis opinione Indeed as the Pagans had their Lares and Penates Dii Minorum Gentium so possibly this Thomas though not publickly Canonized might pass for a Saint of the lesser Size in some particular places Since the Reformation THOMAS TUSSâ—…R was born at Riven-hall in this County of an ancient family since extinct if his own pen may be believed Whâ—…lst as yet a Boy he lived in many Schools Wallingford Sâ—…int Pauls Eaton whence he went to Tâ—…inity hall in Cambridge when a Man in Stafford-shire Suffolk Northfolk Cambridge-shire London and where not so that this Stone of Sisiphus could gather no Moss He was successively a Musitian School master Servingman Husbandman Grasier Poet more skilfull in all then thriving in any Vâ—…cation He traded at large in Oxen Sheep Dairies Grain of all kinds to no profit Whether he bought or sold he lost and when a Renter impoverished himself and never inriched his Landlord Yet hath he laid down excellent Rules in his Book of Husbandry and Houswifery so that the Observer thereof must be rich in his own dâ—…fence He spread his Bread with all sorts of Butter yet none would stick thereon Yet I hear no man to charge him with any vicious extravagancy or visible carelâ—…ssness imputing his ill success to some occult cause in Gods counsel Thus our English 〈◊〉 might say with the Poet Monitis sum minor ipse meis None being better at the Theory or worse at the Practise of Husbandry I match him with Thomas 〈◊〉 yard they being mark'd alike in their Poeticall parts living in the same time and 〈◊〉 alike in their Estates both low enough I assure you I cannot find the certain date of his death but collect it to be about 1580. FRANCIS QUARLES Esquire son to James Quarles Esquire was born at Sâ—…wards in the Parish of Ruâ—…ford in this County where his son as I am inform'd hath an Estate in expectancy He was bred in Cambridge and going over into Ireland became Secretary to the Reverend James Usher Arch-bishop of Armagh He was a most excellent Poet and had a mind by assed to devotion Had he been contemporary with Plato that great back-friend to Poets he would not onely have allowed him to live but advanced him to an office in his Common wealth Some Poets if debarr'd proâ—…ess want oness and Satyricalness that they may neither abuse God themselves nor their neighbours have their tongues cut out in effect Others onely trade in wit at the second hand being all for translations nothing for invention Our Qâ—…arles was free from the fâ—…ts of the first as if he had drank of Jordan in stead oâ—… Helicon and slept on mount Olivet for his Pernassus and was happy in his own invention His visible Poetry I mean his Emblems is excellent caâ—…ching therein the eye and fancy at one draught so that he hath out Aleiated therein in some mens judgement His Verses on Job are done to the life so that the Reader may see his sores and through theâ—… the anguish of his soul. The troubles of Ireland where his lossâ—…s were great forced his return hither bearing his crosses with great patience so thaâ—… according to the advice of Saint Hierome Verba vertebat in opera and practiced the Job he had described dying about the year 1643. JOSEPH MEDE was born in this County a little east of Bishop-Startford Men in â—…cripture generally are notified by their Fathers as Johnadab the Son of Rechab Simon the Son of Jona Some few are described by their Sons as Simon of Cyren the Father of Alexander and Rufus wherein it is presumed that their Sons were most eminent and their Branches not known by the Root but the Root by the Branches Such the case here where the Parents obscure in themselves may hereafter be known for having Joseph Mede to their Son He was bred in Christs-colledge in Cambridge where he attained to great Learning by his own industry R. was Shiboleth unto him which he could not easily pronounce so that a set-speech cost him the double pains to another man being to fit words as well to his Mouth as his Matter Yet by his Industry and Observation He so conquered his Imperfection that though in private discourse he often smiled out his stammering into silence yet chusing his words he made many an excellent Sermon without any considerable Hesitation The first fruits of his Eminent Studies was a written Treatise de sanctitate Relativa which he presented to Bishop Andrews who besteded him with the Kings favour when his election into his Fellow-ship met with some opposition He afterwards became an Excellent Linguist Curious Mathematician Exact Text-man happy in makeing Scripture to expound it self by Parallel places He was charitable to poor people with his Almes and to all people with his candid censure Of one who constantly kept his Cell so he called his Chamber none Travailed oftener and farther over all Christendome For things past he was a Perfect Historian for things present a Judicious Novilant and for things to come a Prudentiall not to say Propheticall Conjecturer To his private friends he would often insist on the place of Scripture Judges 3. 30. and the land had a rest Four score years which was the longest term of Peace which he ever observed the Church of God to enjoy after which many troubles did ensue And seeing the same lease of Halcion days was expired in England since the first of Queen Elizabeth he grievously suspected some strange Concussion in Church and State which came to pass accordingly I confess his Memory hath suffered much in many mens Judgements for being so great a Fauter of the fancifull opinion of the Millenaries Yet none can deny but that much is found in the Ancient fathers tending that way Besides I dare boldy say that the furious Factors for the fift Monarchy hath driven that Nail which Master Mede did first enter farther then he ever intended it and doing it with such violence that they split the truths round about it Thus when ignorance begins to build on that Foundation which learning hath laid no wonder if there be no Uniformity in such a Mungrell Fabrick He died in the fifty third year of his age Anno Domini 1638. leaving the Main of his Estate to the Colledge about the value of 300l a large
of Foulness rented in part by two of my credible Parishoners who attested it having paid dear for the truth thereof wheâ—… an Army of Mice nesting in Ant-hills as Conies in Burroughs shaved off the grass at the bare roots which withering to dung was infectious to Cattle The March following numberless flocks of Owls from all parts flew thither and destroyed them which otherwise had ruined the Country if continuing another year Thus though great the distance betwixt a Man and a Mouse the meanest may become formidable to the mightiest creature by their multitudes and this may render the punishment of the Philistines more clearly to our apprehensions at the same time pestered with Mice in their barns and pained with emerods in their bodies GLOUCESTER-SHIRE GLOUCESTER-SHIRE hath Worcester and Warwick-shire on the North Oxford and Wilt-shire on the East Somerset-shire on the South Hereford-shire with the River Wye on the West extending from her South to North Avon 48. miles but lessened in her broadest part from East to West to twenty eight The Severne runneth through it entring this County as a River encreasing in it to an Eastuary and becometh little lesse than a Sea before it departs out of it Some affirm that this County was anciently like the land of Gerar wherein Isaac sowed and reaped an hundred fold the greatest proportion of encrease which the good ground in the Parable brought fourth But the same men seem to insinuate that this Shire tired out with its over fruitfulnesse hath become barren in these later times True it is as Lions are said to be tamed by watching not suffering them to take any sleep so the most generous and vigorus land will in time be imbarrened when always pinched with the Plough and not permitted to slumber at all and lie fallow some competent time otherwise with moderate respite and manuring some Tillage in this County is as fruitful as in any other place As for Pasturage I have heard it reported from credible persons that such the fruitfulness of the land nigh Slimbrige that in Spring time let it be bit bare to the roots a Wand laid along therein over night will be covered with new-grown grasse by the next morning Natural Commodities Tobacco This lately grew in this County but now may not It was first planted about Winchcomb and many got great estates thereby notwithstanding the great care and cost in planting replanting transplanting watering snailing suckering topping cropping sweating drying making and rowling it But it hath been prohibited of late by Act of Parliament as hindering our English Plantation in the West Indies abating the Revenues of the State in Customs and Impost and spoiling much of our good ground which might be employed for Corn or Cattel As for the praise of Tobacco with the vertues thereof they may better be performed by the Pens of such Writers whose pallates have tasted of the same Oak England hath the best in the World not for finenesse but firmnesse Indeed Out-landish Oaks have a smaller grain and therefore fitter for Wainscot and whilest they make the best linings our English Oak is the substantial out-side The best in England is in Dean Forrest in this County and most serviceable for Shipping so tough that when it is dry it is said to be as hard as Iron I have read that in the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Spaniard sent an Embassador over purposely to get this wood destroyed by private practices and cunning contrivances who had he effected his Embassie deserved a good reward at his return It is suspicious if not timely prevented carelesness and waste will gratifie the Spaniard with what then he could not accomplish Steele It is Eldest Brother of Iron extracted from the same Oare differing from it not in kind but degree of purity as being the first running thereof It is more hard and brittle whilest Iron is softer and tougher useful for the making of English Knives Sitâ—…es Sisers Shears c. but fine edges cannot be made thereof as Lancets for letting of blood Incision Knives Dissecting Knives Razors c. I have been informed that Sir Bafil Brooke the great Steele-maker in this County his Patent to prohibit the importing of Forraign Steele was revoked on this account because that no Artist could make the aforesaid Instruments of English Steele but must have it from Damascus Spain Flanders c. As for Iron though plentiful in this it may be treated of in another County with more conveniency Manufactures Cloathing As good as any in England for finenesse and colour is wrought in this County where the Cloathiers have a double advantage First plenty of the best Wooll growing therein on Cots wold-Hills so that whereas Cloathiers in some Counties fetch their Wooll far off with great cost it is here but the removing it from the Backs of the Sheep into their Works Houses Secondly they have the benefit of an excellent water for colouring their Cloath being the sweet Rivolet of Strowd which arising about Branfield runneth crofs this Shire into the Severn Now no rational man will deny Occult qualities of perfection in some above other waters whereby Spanish Steele non natura sed tinctura becomes more tough than ours in England as the best Reds a colour which always carried somewhat of Magistracy therein are died in Strowd water Hence it is that this Shire hath afforded many wealthy Cloathiers whereof some may seem in their Loomes to have interwoven their own names into the Cloaths called Webs-cloath and Clutterbucks after the names of the first Makers of them for many years after Mustard The best in England to take no larger compasse is made at Tewksberry in this County It is very wholesome for the clearing of the Head moderately taken and I believe very few have ever surfeited thereof because not granted time but demanded present payment for the penalty of excesse turning Democritus himself presently to Heraclitâ—… as the Husband-man Poetdoth observe Seque lacessenti fletum factura sinapis It is generally used in England and the Jest is well known of two Serving-men contesting about Superiority My Master saith the one spends more in Mustard than thine does in Beefe whereunto the other returned the more sawcy men his followers But seriously this should raise our gratitude to God for the plentiful provisions of Flesh and Fish spent in this Land when Mustard a meer complement to both amounteth to more thousands of pounds by the year than will be believed Wine This formerly grew in this County but now doth not witness the many places therein still called Vineyards whereof one most eminent nigh Gloucester the palace of the Bishop and it appears by ancient Records that some Towns in this Shire paid Rent-Wines in great proportions so that England though it doth not ferre vinum is ferax vini capable especially in a hot Summer to produce it to good perfection But in later ages this commodity hath been disused
the people thereabout if in point of Profit their tongues would not cross their hearts as this New-Forrest did Whereof hereafter Natural Commodities Red Deer Great store of these were lately in New Forrest so called because Newly made by K. William the Conqueror Otherwise ten years hence it will be six hundred years old Indeed as Augustus Câ—…sar is said to have said of Herod King of Judaea that it was better to be his Hog than his Childe So was it most true of that King William that it was better to have been his Stag than his Subject the one being by him spared and preserved the other ruined and destroyed Such was the Vastation he made of Townes in this County to make room for his game And it is worth our observing the opposition betwixt the Characters of K. EDGAR K. WILLIAM Templa Deo Templis Monachos Monachis dedit agros Templa adimit Divis fora Civibus arva Colonis And now was the South-West of this County made a Forest indeed if as an Antiquary hath observed a Forest be so called quia foris est because it is set open and abroad The Stags therein were stately creatures jealous revengeful insomuch that I have been credibly inform'd that a Stag unable for the present to master another who had taken his Hinde from him waited his opportunity till his enemy had weakned himself with his wantonness and then kill'd him Their Flesh may well be good whose very Horns are accounted Cordial Besides there is a concave in the neck of a green-headed Stag when above his first crossing wherein are many worms some 2. inches in length very useful in Physick and therefore carefully put up by Sir Theodore Mayerne and other skilful Physicians But I beleive there be few Stags now in New-Forest fewer Harts and not any Harts-Royal as escaping the chase of a King though in time there may be some again Hony Although this Countie affordeth not such Lakes of Honey as some Authors relate found in hollow Trees in Muscovy nor yieldeth Combes equal to that which Pliny reporteth seen in Germany eight foot long yet produceth it plenty of this necessary and profitable Commoditie Indeed Hantshire hath the worst and best Hony in England worst on the Heath hardly worth five pound the Barrel best in the Champian where the same quantity will well nigh be sold for twice as much And it is generally observed the finer the Wheat and Wooll both which very good in this County the purer the Hony of that place Hony is useful for many purposes especially that Hony which is the lowest in any Vessel For it is an old and true rule the best Oyle is in the top the best Wine in the middle and the best Hony in the bottome It openeth Obstructions cleareth the Breast and Lights from those humors which fall from the head loosneth the belly with many other soveraign qualities too many to be reckoned up in a Winters day However we may observe three degrees or kinds rather of Hony 1. Virgin Hony which is the purest of a late Swarm which never bred Bees 2. Chaste Hony for so I may term all the rest which is not Sophisticated with any addition 3. Harlot Hony as which is adulterated with Meal and other trash mingled therewith Of the first and second sort I understand the Counsel of Salomon My Sonne eat Hony for it is good good absolutely in the substance though there may be excess in the quantitie thereof Wax This is the Cask where Hony is the Liquour and being yellow by Nature is by Art made white red and green which I take to be the dearest colours especially when appendant on Parchment Wax is good by Day and by Night when it affordeth light for Sight the clearest for Smell the sweetest for Touch the cleanliest Useful in Law to seal Instruments and in Physick to mollifie Sinewes ripen and dissolve Ulcers c. Yea the Ground and Foundation of all Cere-cloath so called from Cera is made of Waxe Hoggs Hantshire Hoggs are allowed by all for the best Bacon being our English Westphalian and which well ordered hath deceived the most judicious Pallats Here the Swine feed in the Forrest on plenty of Acorns Mens meat in the golden Hogs food in this iron Age which going out lean return home fat without either care or cost of their Owners Nothing but fulness stinteth their feeding on the Mast falling from the Trees where also they lodge at liberty not pent up as in other places to stacks of Pease which some assign the reason of the fineness of their flesh which though not all Glorre where no bancks of lean can be seen for the Deluge of fat is no less delicious to the taste and more wholsome for the stomack Swines-flesh by the way is observed most nutritive of mens bodies because of its assimilation thereunto Yet was the eating thereof forbidden to the Jewes whereof this Reason may be rendred besides the absolute Will of the Law-giver because in hot countries Mens bodies are subject to the Meastes and Leprosies who have their greatest repast on Swines-flesh For the Climate of Canaan was all the year long as hot as England betwixt May and Michael-mass and it is penal for any Butchers with us in that Term to kill any Pork in the Publick Shambles As for the Manufacture of Clothing in this County diffused throughout the same such as deny the goodness of Hant-shire Cloath and have occasion to wear it will be convinced of its true worth by the price which they must pay for it The Buildings The Cathedral in Winchester yeildeth to none in England for venerable magnificence It could not be Opus unius saeculi perfected by the contributive endeavours of several successive Bishops whereof some lie most sumptuously interred in their Chappel-like-Monuments On the walls of the Quire on each side the dust of the Saxon-Kings and ancient Bishops of this Church were decently Intombed many hundred years after by Richard Fox Bishop of this See till in the beginning of our Civil Wars they were barbarously thrown down by the Souldiers Josephus reports what some hardly believe how Herod took many talents of Treasure out of the Sepulchre of David sure I am they met with no such wealth here in this Mine of Mortality amongst the ashes which did none any injurie and therefore why Malice should scratch out that which did not bite it is to me unknown As for Civil Structures Basing built by the first Marquess of Winchester was the greatest of any Subjects House in England yea larger than most Eagles have not the biggest Nests of all Birds of the Kings Palaces The Motto Love Loyaltie was often written in every window thereof and was well practised in it when for resistance on that account it was lately levelled to the Ground Next Basing Bramsell built by the last Lord Zouch in a bleak and barren place was a stately
Here a Spanish Merchants Daughter Mary de la Barrera by name fell in love with him and became his Wife worth to him in Barrs of Gold and Silver two Thousand five hundred Pounds besides Jewells of great price Returning into England he lived with great comfort and credit therein so that it may truly be said of him He had been unâ—…one if by the cruelty of his Enemies he had not been undone Writers LAMFRID of Winchester was bred a Benedictine therein Congregationis Giribenne saith my Authour wherein I am not ashamed to confess my ignorance Such his Learning in those Dayes that he got the general name of Doctor Eximius though his few works still extant answer not the proportion of so high a Title He flourished anno 980. WOLSTANUS of Winchester bred a Benedictine therein attained to the reputation of a great Scholar I listen attentively to the words of VV. Malmsbury who could ken a Learned man giving him this Caracter Vir fuit eruditus homo etiam bonae vitae castigatae eloquentiae But it seemeth his Eloquence was confined to Poetry my Author observing that Oratione soluta nunquam politè scripsit He flourished anno 1000. JOHN of HIDE was a Monk in the famous ABBY of Hide in the Suburbs of Winchester and became a competent Historian according to the rate of those times writing certain Homilies a Book of the Patience of Job and the Story of his own Convent He flourished anno 1284. JOHN of Basingstoak so called from a fair Market Town in this Coâ—…nty where he was born We have a double Demonstration of his signal worth first because Robert Grosthead that pious and learned Bishop who would not advance any thing which was under eminency preferred him Arch-deacon of Leicester secondly The Pens of Bale and Pitz diametrically opposite one to the other meet both in his commendation Being bred first in Oxford then in Paris thence he travailed into Athens Athens as yet was Athens not routed by Turkish Tyranny where he heard the Learned Lecturs of one Constantina a Noble Woman not fully Twenty Years old of the abstruse Mysteries of Nature Coming home he brought back many precious Books and had good skill in the Greek Tongue whereof he wrote a GRAMMAR and is justly reputed the first restorer thereof in England He was the Author of many worthy works and died Anno 1252. on whom M. Paris bestoweth this Eulogy Vir in trivio quatrivio ad plenum eruditus JOHN of HIDE was a Monk in the Famous Abby of Hide in the Suburbs of Winchester and became a competent Historian according to the rate of those times writing certain Homilies a book of the Patience of Job and the Story of his own Covent He flourished Anno 1284. WILLIAM ALTON a Native of a known Market-Town in this County was a Dominican or Preaching Frier famous even amongst Forreiners for his Sermons and sound judgement avouching the Virgin Mary tainted with Original Corruption He flourished Anno 1330. WILLIAM LILLIâ—… was born at Odiam a Market-Town in this County and travelled in his youth as far as Jerusalem In his return he stayed at Rhodes and studied Greek which will seem strange to some Rhodes not being Rhodes in that Age except casually some great Critick was there seeing otherwise to find Elegant in Modern Greek sowred with long continuance is as impossible as to draw good Wine out of a vessel of Vinegar Hence he went to Rome where he heard John Sulpitius and Pomponius Sabinus great Masters of Latine in those dayes After his Return Dean Collet made him the first Master of St. Pauls School which place he commendably discharged for 15. years Here he made his Latine Grammar which this great School-Master modestly submitted to the correction of Erasmus and therefore such who will not take it on the single bond of Lillie may trust on the security of Erasmus Some charge it for surfeiting with variety of examples who would have had him onely to set down the bare Rules as best for Childrens remembrance But they may know that such who learnt Grammar in Lillies time were not School-boyes but School-men I mean arrived at mens Estate Many since have altered and bettered his Grammar and amongst them my worthy Friend Dr. Charles Scarborough calculating his short clear and true Rules for the Meridian of his own son which in due time may serve for general use Our Lillie died of the plague and was buried in the Porch of Saint Pauls Anno Dom. 1522. Since the Reformation MICHAâ—… RENEGER was born in this County and bred Fellow in Magdalen-Colledge in Oxford where he gained great credit for his skill in Learning and Languages He wrote a Book in the Defence of Ministers marriage THOMAS STERNHOLD was born in this County and was afterwards a servant to King Henry the Eighth I find him a Legatee in his Will thus mentioned Item To THOMAS STERNHOLD Groome of our Robes a hundred Mark He was afterwards saith my Author ab intimo cubiculo to King Edward the Sixth Though I am not satisfied whether thereby he meant Gentleman of his Privie-Chamber or Groom of his Bed-Chamber He was a principal instrument of Translating of the Psalmes into English-Meeter The first twentie six and seven and thirty in all being by him performed Yet had he other assistance in that work Many a bitter scoffe hath since been past on their endeavours by some Wits which might have been better imployed Some have miscalled these their Translations Geneva Gigs and which is the worst Father or Mother rather the Expression on our Virgin Queen as falsly as other things have been charged upon her Some have not sticked to say that David hath been as much persecuted by bungling Translators as by Saul himself Some have made Libellous verses in abuse of them and no wonder if Songs were made on the Translators of the Psalms seeing Drunkards made them on David the Author thereof But let these Translations be beheld by unpartial eyes and they will be allowed to go in Equipage with the best Poems in that age However it were to be wisht that some bald Rimes therein were bettered till which time such as sing them must endeavour to amend them by singing them with Understanding heads and Gratious hearts whereby that which is but bad Meter on Earth will be made good Musick in Heaven As for our Thomas Sternhold it was happy for him that he died before his good Master Anno 1549. in the moneth of August So probably preventing much persecution which would have hapned unto him if surviving in the Reign of Queen Mary DAVID WHITEHEAD where born to me unknown is here placed Because I find a worshipful and ancient Family of his Name in this County He was bred a Batchelour of Divinity in Oxford and flying into Germany in the Reign of Queen Mary was in high esteem at Franckford
and Gaping Chincks the Heraulds of its downfall deeming with my self that I discovered as Physicians in our Bodies do cadaverosam faciem ruinosam therein But it rejoyced me when coming there this last year to find it so well amended by the soveraign medicine of Gold or Silver charitably applyed by its good Bishop I wish all Cathedrals in England sick of the same distemper as quick and happy a recovery HARTFORD-SHIRE is so called from Hartford the chief Town therein as Hartford so termed from the Ford of Harts a Hart Couchant in the waters being the Armes thereof Which convinceth me that HART not HERTFORD-SHIRE is the Orthography of this County It hath Essex on the East Middlesex on the South Buckingham shire on the West Bedford and Cambridge shire on the North thereof It might be allowed a Square of 20. miles save that the Angular Insinuations of other Counties prejudice the Entireness thereof I have been informed from an ancient â—…stice therein that one cannot be so advantagiously placed in any part of this Shire but that he may recover another County within the riding of five miles It is the garden of England for delight and men commonly say that such who buy a house in Hartfordshire pay two years purchase for the aire thereof It falls short in Fruitfulness of ESSEX adjoyning thereunto to which it was also annexed under one Sheriff and one Eschetor till after the Reign of King Edward the Third And Paynfull Norden writes a bold Truth For deep feedings or Sheep pastures I take notice of few and those especially about Knebworth To speak of the Soyle as indeed it is most generally for my part I take it but a barren Countrey in respect of some other Shires Indeed this Forrestie-Ground would willingly bear nothing so well as a Crop of Wood. But seeing Custome is another Nature it hath for many years been contented to bring forth good Grain perswaded thereunto by the Industrious Husbandman Surely no County can shew so fair a Bunch of Berries for so they term the fair Habitations of Gentlemen of remark which are called Places Courts Halls and Mannors in other Shires This County affording no peculiar Commodity nor Manufacture We may safely proceed to other Observations when first we have given the due commendation to the Horses of this Shire Their Teames of Horses oft times deservedly advanced from the Cart to the Coach are kept in excellent equipage much alike in colour and stature fat and fair such is their care in dressing and well-feeding them I could name the place and person Reader be not offended with an innocent digression who brought his servant with a Warrant before a Justice of Peace for stealing his grain The man brought his five horses tailed together along with him alledging for himself That if he were the Theefe these were the Receivers and so escaped The Buildings THEOBALDS did carry away the credit built by Sir William beautified by Sir Robert Cecil his Son both Lord Treasurers of England The last exchanged it too wise to do it to his Losse with King James for Hatfield-house which King deceased therein March 27. 1625. Yea This House may be said to decease about its grand Climacterical some sixty three years from the finishing thereof taken down to the ground for the better partage among the Soldiery Anno 1651. and from the seat of a Monarch is now become a little Common-wealth so many intire Tenements like Splinters have flown out of the Materials thereof Thus our Fathers saw it built we behold it unbuilt and whether our Children shall see it re-built he only knows who hath written There is a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together Hatfield-house was first the Bishops of Ely then the Kings afterwards by exchange the Earls of Salisbury For Situation Building Contrivance Prospect Air and all accommodations inferiour to none in England Within a little mile thereof lyeth a place called the Vineyard where nature by the Midwifery of Art is delivered of much pleasure So that the Reader must be a Seer before he can understand the perfection thereof Had this place been in Graecia or nigh Rome where the luxuriant fancies of the Poets being subject-bound improve a Tree into a Grove a Grove into a Forrest a Brook into a River and a Pond into a Lake I say had this Vineyard been there it had disinherited Tempe of its honour and hence the Poets would have dated all their delights as from a Little Paradise and Staple-place of earthly pleasure Medicinal Waters One hath lately been discovered neer Barnet in a Common as generally sanative springs are found in such places as if nature therein intimated her intention designing them for publique profit not private employment it is conceived to run thorough veines of Alome by the taste thereof It coagulateth milk and the curd thereof is an excellent plaister for any green wounds besides several other operations But as Alexander was wont to applaud Achilles not as the most valiant but the most fortunate of men having Homer to trumpet forth his actions so are these waters much advantaged with the vicinitie of London whose Citizens proclame the praise thereof And indeed London in this kind is stately attended having three Medicinal Waters within one dayes Journy thereof The Catalogue of the Cures done by this Spring amounteth to a great number in so much that there is hope in process of time the Water rising here will repaire the blood shed hard by and save as many lives as were lost in the fatal Battel at Barnet betwixt the two houses of Yorke and Lancaster Hartford-shire Proverbs HARTFORD-SHIRE Clubs and clouted shoon Some will wonder how this Shire lying so near to London the Staple of English Civilitie should be guiltie of so much Rusticalness But the finest Cloth must have a List and the pure Pesants are of as course a thread in this County as in any other place Yet though some may smile at their clownishness let none laugh at their Industry the rather because the high-shoon of the Tenant payes for the Spanish-Leather-Boots of the Landlord HARTFORD-SHIRE Hedge-Hogs Plenty of Hedge-Hogs are found in this High woodland-County where too often they suck the Kine though the Dayry-maid conne them small thanks for sparing their pains in milking them A creature alwayes in his posture of defence carrying a Stand of Pikes on his back so that if as well victualled as armed he may hold out a seige against any equal opposition If this Proverb containeth any further reflection on the People in this County as therein taxed for covetousness and their constant nudling on the Earth I will not so understand it as hoping and believing this to be a false Application WARE and WADES-Mill are worth all LONDON This I assure you is a Master-piece of the Vulgar wits in this County wherewith they endeavour to amuse Travellers as if WARE a thorough-fare-Market and
WADES-Mill Part of a Village lying two miles North thereof were so prodigiously rich as to countervail the wealth of LONDON The Fallacy lieth in the Homonymy of WARE here not taken for that Town so named but appellatively for all vendible Commodities We will not discompose the wit of this Proverb by cavilling that WEARE is the proper name of that Town so called anciently from the Stoppages which there obstruct the River But leave it as we found it and proceed HARTFORD-SHIRE Kindness This is generally taken in a good and grateful sense for the mutual return of favours received It being belike observed that the people in this County at entertainments drink back to them who drank to them parallel to the Latine Proverbs Fricantem refrica Manus manum lavat par est de merente bene bene mereri However sometimes Hartford-shire kindness may prove Hartford-shire cruelty and amount to no less then a Monopoly when this reciprocation of Favours betwixt themselves is the exclusion of all others from partaking thereof Princes WILLIAM second Son of King Edward the Third and Philip his wife took his Christian-name from his Grandfather William Earle of Henault and his Sirname of Hatfield from the place of his Nativity in this County where he was born the ninth of his Fathers Reign Anno Domini 1335. and expired within few dayes afâ—…er So that what I find written on the late Monument of a Noble Infant may also serve for his Epitaph Vivus nil poteram fari quin mortuus Infans Nunc loquor ut mortis sis memor atque vale Living I could not speak now dead I tel Thy duty think of death and so farewel It is uncertain where he was interred but most believe him buried at Westminster EDMUND of LANGLEY Fifth son to King Edward the Third and Queen Philip Was so sirnamed from Kings-Langley in this County the place of his Nativity He was created Earle of Cambridge in the Thirty sixth year of the Reign of his Father and Duke of York in the ninth year of his Nephew King Richard the Second He married Isabel daughter and Co-Heir of Peter King of Castile and lie buried at Langley together He had besides other Children of both Sexes to his eldest Son Richard Duke of York and he died Anno Dom. 1402. EDMUND of HADDAM Reader I presume thee to be so much a Gentleman as in courtesie to allow him a Prince who was Son to Queen Katherine by Owen Theodor her second husband womb-brother to King Henry the Sixth and Father to King Henry the Seventh That he was born in this County one may well be confident seeing there is no Haddam in any Shire of England save Hartford-shire alone I confesse therein three Villages of that name but sure no lesse then Great Haddam was the place of so eminent a Native He was solemnly created Earle of Richmond at Reading in the 31. of King Henry the Sixth Many good works no doúbt he did when living whose corps when buried saved from destruction the fair Cathedral of Saint Davids For his Monument in the midst of the Quire saith my Author as the Prebendaries told him spared their Church from defacing in the dayes of King Henry the Eighth I could wish all King Henries nearest relations had after their decease been severally so disposed preservatives from ruine rapine as the corps of Q. Katherin Dowager did as some say save the Church of Peterburgh But this ill agreeth with that which Brookes reporteth viz. That this Earl was buried in Carmarthen and because Vincent his professed adversary finding fault with him alwayes when any sometimes when no cause taketh no exception thereat I the more rely on his Testimony Onely it is possible that this Earle first enterred in Carmarthen might be afterwards for the more eminence of Sepulture removed to Saint Davids He died Anno Domini 1456. Saints Saint ALBAN though as Saint Paul a Roman by priviledge but Britton by Parentage was born in this County though many hundreds of years before Hartfordshire had its modern Name and Dimensions in the City of Verulam and was martyred for Christianity under Dioclesian An. 303. The cause and manner whereof with the Martyrdome of Saint Amphibalus hard by Rudborn I have so largely related in my Ecclesiastical History that as I will repeat nothing I can add nothing of consequence thereto Except any will conceive this to be remarkable that good Liquoras groweth naturally out of the ruinous walls of Verulam an old City the Mother of the New Town of Saint Albans as a skilful eye-witness Antiquary and zealous Protestant hath observed Had some Papist taken first notice hereof he might probably have made it a Miracle and assign the sanctitie of this place for the root of this Liquoras Martyrs It appeareth by the Maps that Africa lieth partly in the Torrid and partly in the Temperate Zone Nor is the wonder any at all considering the vastness thereof extending it self through many Degrees More strange it is that this small County should be partly in a Temperate viz. the Western part thereof subjected to the Bishop of Lincoln and partly in the Torrid Climate namely the Eastern Moity belonging to the Dioces of London which under Bonner was parched with persecution Yet not to make this Monster worse then he was though many in his Jurisdiction were much molested and though Tradition points the very place in Bishops Stortford where poor people were burnt at the stake yet my Book of Martyrs or Eyes or both be defective wherein I cannot recover the name of any particular person Pope NICHOLAS Son to Robert Break-spear a Lay brother in the Abbey of St. Albans fetcht his Name from Break-speare a place in Middlesex but was born at Abbots-Langley a Town in this County When a Youth he was put to such servile work in St. Albans Abbey that his ingenious Soul could not comport therewith Suing to be admitted into that house he received the repulse which in fine proved no mis-hap but a happy-miss unto him for going over into France he studied so hard and so happily at Paris that for his worth he was preferred Abbot of St. Rufus neer Valentia and afterward by Pope Eugenius the Third was made Bishop of Alba nigh Rome Adnatalis soli memoriam saith my Author that he who was refused to be Monachus Albanensis in England should be Episcopus Albanensis in Italy He was employed by the Pope for the conversion of the Norwegians and though Bale saith he were not Bale if he were not bitter Anti-christiano charactere Norwegios signavit yet his reducing them from Paganisme to Christianity in the Fundamentals was a worthy work and deserves true commendation He was afterwards chosen Pope of Rome by the name of Adrian the fourth There is a mystery more then I can fathome in the changing of his name Seeing his own font-name was a Papal one Yet he
Duke of Richmond and ..... the fair Mansion of Sir Edward Hales Baronet adequate to his large Estate when finished will carry away the credit from all the buildings in this County The Wonders A marvellous accident happened August 4. 1585. in the Hamlet of Mottingham pertaining to Eltham in this County in a Field which belongeth to Sir Percival Hart. Betimes in the morning the ground began to sink so much that three great Elm-trees were suddenly swallowed into the Pit the tops falling downward into the hole and before ten of the Clock they were so overwhelmed that no part of them might be discerned the Concave being suddenly filled with water The compasse of the hole was about 80. yards and so profound that a sounding-line of fifty Fathoms could hardly find or feel any bottom Ten yards distance from that place there was another piece of ground sunk in like manner near the High-way and so nigh a dwelling-house that the Inhabitants were greatly terrified therewith The Navy Royal. It may be justly accounted a WONDER of Art and know the Ships are properly here handled because the most best and biggest of them have their Birth built at Woolwich and Winter aboad nigh Chattam in the River of Medway in this County Indeed before the Reign of Q. Elizabeth the ships Royal were so few they deserved not the name of a Fleet when our Kings hired Vessels from Hamborough Lubeck yea Genoa it self But such who in stead of their own servants use chair folke in their houses shall find their work worse done and yet pay dearer for it Queen ELIZABETH sensible of this mischief erected a Navy-Royal continued and increased by her successors of the best ships Europe ever beheld Indeed much is in the matter the excellency of our English-Oake more in the making the cunning of our shipwrights most in the manning the courage of our Seamen and yet all to Gods blessing who so often hath crowned them with success If that man who hath versatile ingenium be thereby much advantaged for the working of his own fortune Our ships so active to turn and winde at pleasure must needs be more useful than the Spanish Gallions whose unwieldiness fixeth them almost in one posture and maketh them the stedier markes for their enemies As for Flemish bottoms though they are finer built yet as the slender Barbe is not so fit to charge with they are found not so useful in fight The great SOVERAIGN built at Dulwich a Leigership for State is the greatest Ship our Island ever saw But great Medals are made for some grand solemnity whilest lesser Coyn are more current and passable in payment I am credibly informed that that Mystery of Ship-Wrights for some descents hath been preserved successively in Families of whom the Petts about Chattam are of singular regard Good success have they with their skill and carefully keep so precious a pearl lest otherwise amongst many Friends some Foes attain unto it It is no Monopoly which concealeth that from common enemies the concealing whereof is for the common good May this Mystery of ship-making in England never be lost till this floting world be arrived at its own Haven the End and Dissolution thereof I know what will be objected by Forreigners to take off the lustre of our Navy-Royal viz. That though the Model of our great Ships primitively were our own yet we fetched the first Mold and Pattern of our Frigots from the Dunkerks when in the dayes of the Duke of Bukcingham then Admiral we took some Frigots from them two of which still survive in his Majesties Navy by the name of the Providence and Expedition All this is confessed and honest men may lawfully learn something from thieves for their own better defence But it is added we have Improved our Patterns and the Transscript doth at this day exceed the Original witnesse some of the swiftest Dunkirks and Ostenders whose wings in a fair flight have failed them overtaken by our Frigots and they still remain the Monuments thereof in our Navy Not to disgrace our Neigbouring Nations but vindicate our selves in these nine following particulars The Navy-Royal exceeds all Kingdoms and States in Europe 1. Swift sayling Which will appear by a comparative Induction of all other Nations First for the Portugal his Carvils and Caracts whereof few now remain the charges of maintaining them far exceeding the profit they bring in they were the veriest Dr ones on the Sea the rather because formerly their Seeling was dam'd up with a certain kind of morter to dead the shot a fashion now by them disused The Frenchh ow dexterous soever in Land-battles are Left-handed in Sea-fights whose best ships are of Dutch Building The Dutch build their ships so sloaty and boyant they have little hold in the Water in comparison of ours which keep the better Winde and so out sail them The Spanish-Pride hath infected their ships with Loftiness which makes them but the fairer marks to our shot Besides the winde hath so much power of them in bad weather so that it drives them two Leagues for one of ours to the Lee-ward which is very dangerous upon a Lee-shore Indeed the Turkish Frigots especially some 36 of Algier formed and built much near the English mode and manned by Renegadoes many of them English being already too nimble heeld for the Dutch may hereafter prove mischievous to us if not seasonably prevented 2. Strength I confine this only to the Timber whereof they are made our English Oak being the best in the World True it is to our shame and sorrow be it written and read the Dutch of late have built them some ships of English Oak which through the Negligence or Covetousness of some Great ones was bought here and transported hence But the best is that as Bishop Latimer once said to one who had preached his Sermon that he had gotten his fidle-stick but not his rosin so the Hollanders with our Timber did not buy also our ship-Building Now the ships of other Countries are generally made of Fir and other such slight wood whereby it cometh to passe that as in the Battle in the Forest of Ephraim wherein Absolon was slain the Wood devoured more People that Day then the Sword the splinters of so brittle Timber kill more than the shot in a Sea fight 3. Comelyness Our Friggots are built so neat and snug made long and low so that as the Make of some Womens Bodies hansomely concealeth their pregnancy or Great Belly their Contrivance hideth their bigness without suspicion the Enemy not expecting thirty when to his cost he hath found sixty Peeces of Ordnance in them Our Masts stand generally very upright whereas those of the Spaniards hang over their Poop as if they were ready to drop by the Board their Deckes are unequal having many Risings and fallings whereas ours are even Their ports some higher in a Tire then others ours drawn upon an Equal Line Their Cables bad
besides subject to rot in these Countries because bought at the second hand whereas we make our best markets fetching our Cordage from the Fountain thereof 4. Force Besides the strength inherent in the structure where of before this is accessary consisting in the Weight and number of their Guns Those of the Sixth 10. 12. 14. 16. 18. 20. Fifth 22. 26. 28. 30. Fourth Rates carrying 38. 40. 44. 48. 50. Ordinance mounted Third 50. 54. 56. 60. Second 60. 64. 70. The Royal-Soveraign being one of the first rates when she is fitted for the Seas carrieth one hundred and four Peeces of Ordnance mounted 5. Sea-men Couragious and skilful For the first we remember the Proverb of Solomon Let an other praise thee not thy own mouth a stranger not thy own lips The Spaniards with sad shrug and Dutch with a sorrowful shaking of their heads give a tacite assent hereunto Skillful Indeed Navigation is much improved especially since Saint Pauls time insomuch that when a man goes bunglingly about any work in a ship I have heard our English-men say such a man is one of Saint Pauls Mariners For though no doubt they were as ingenious as any in that Age to decline a Tempest yet modern experience affords fairer fences against foul Weather 6. Advantagious VVeapons Besides Guns of all sorts and sizes from the Pistol to whole Cannon they have Round-double-head-Bur-spike-Crow-Bar-Case-Chain shot I joyn them together because though different Instruments of death they all concur in doing Execution If they be VVind-ward of a ship they have Arrows made to shoot out of a bow with fire-workes at the end which if striking unto the Enemies Sails will stick there I fire them and the ship if they lye board and board they throw hand-Granadoes with stinck-pots into the ship which make so noisom a smell that the Enemie is forced to thrust their heads out of the Ports for air 7. Provision 1. Wholsome our English Beef and Pork keeping sweet and sound longer then any Flesh of other Countries even twenty six moneths to the East and West-Indies 2. More plentiful than any Prince or State in all Europe alloweth The Sea-men having two Beef two Pork and three Fish-dayes besides every Sea-man is alwayes well stored with Hooks to catch Fish with which our Seas do abound Insomuch that many times six will diet on four mens allowance and so save the rest therewith to buy fresh meat when landing where it may be procured I speak not this that hereafter their allowance from the King should be the lesse but that their Loyalty to him and thankfulnesse to God may be the more 8. Accommodation Every one of his Majesties Ships and Friggot-Officers have a distinct Cabin for themselves for which the Dutch French and Portugals do envy them who for the most partlye sub dio under ship-decks 9. Government Few offences comparatively to other Fleets are therein committed and fewer escape punishment The Offender if the fault be small is tried by a Court-Marshal consisting of the Officers of the Ship if great by a Council of Warre wherein only Commanders and the Judge Advocate If any sleep in their watches it is pain of death After 8 a clock none save the Captain Lievtenant and Master may presume to burn a candle No smoaking of Tobacco save for the priviledged aforesaid at any time but in one particular place of the ship that over a Tub of water Preaching they have lately had twice aweek Praying twice aday but my Intelligencer could never hear that the Lords Supper for soâ—…e yeares was administred aboard of any ship an Omission which I hope hereafter will be amended But never did this Navy appear more triumphant then when in May last it brought over our Gracious Soveraign being almost becalmed such the fear of the winds to offend with over-roughness the prognostick of his Majesties peaceable Reign The Farwel Being to tak our leave of these our wooden walls first I wish that they may conquer with their Mast and Sailes without their Gunnes that their very appearnace may fright their foes into Submission But if in point of Honour or safety they be necessitated to ingage may they alwayes keep the Wind of the Enemy that their shot may flye with the greater force and that the smoake of their Pouder pursuing the Fâ—…e may drive him to fire at hazard May their Gunner be in all places of the ship to see where he can make a shot with the best advantage their Carpenter and his Crew be allwayes in the Hold presently to drive in a wooden plug whereas a shot comes betwixt wind and water and to clap a board with Tar and Camels Hair upon it till the dispute be over Their Chirurgion and his assistants be in the same place out of danger of shot to dress the wounded Their Captain to be in the uppermost the Lieuetenant in every part of the Ship to incourage the Sea-men The Chaplain at his Devotions to importune Heaven for success and encouraging all his by his good Council if Time will permit Medicinal Waters TUNBRIDGE WATER It is usual for Providence when intending a Benefit to Mankind to send some signal chance on the Errand to bring the first Tidings thereof most visible in the Newes of Medicinal-Waters The first Discovery of this Water though variously reported is believed from a Footman to a Dutch Lord who passed this way and drinking thereof found it in taste very like to that at the Spaw in Germany Indeed there is a great Symbolizing betwixt them in many concurrences and I believe it is as Soveraign as the other save that it is true of Things as of Persons Major è longinquo Reverentia Surely it runneth thorough some Iron-Mine because so good for Splenitick distempers But I leave the full Relation to such who having experimentally found the Vertue of it can set their Seal of Probatum est unto the commendation thereof Proverbs A KENTISH Yeoman It passeth for a plain Man of a plentiful estate Yeomen in this County bearing away the Bell for wealth from all of their ranck in England Yeomen contracted for Yemen-mein are so called saith a great Antiquary from Gemein G in the beginning is usually turned into Y as Gate into Yate which signifieth Common in old Dutch so that Yeoman is a Commoner one undignified with any title of Gentility A condition of People almost peculiar to England seeing in France Italy and Spain like a lame Dye which hath no points betwixt Duce and Cinque no medium between Gentlemen and Pesants Whereas amongst us the Yeomen Ingenui or Legales Homines are in effect the Basis of all the Nation formerly most mounting the subsidyBook in Peace with their purses and the Muster Roll in war with their Persons Kent as we have said affordeth the richest in this kind whence the Rime A Knight of CALES and a Gentle-man of WALES and a Laird of the North Countree A Yeoman of KENT with his
yearly Rent will buy them out all Three CALES Knights were made in that voyage by Robert Earle of Essex anno Dom. 1596 to the number os sixty whereof though many of great birth and estate some were of low fortunes and therefore Queen Elizabeth was halfe offended with the Earle for making Knighthood so common Of the numerousness of Welsh Gentlemen we shall have cause to speak hereafter Northern Lairds are such who in Scotland hold Lands in chief of the King whereof some have no great Revenue so that a Kentish Yeoman by the help of an Hyperbole may countervail c. Yet such Yeomen refuse to have the Title of Master put upon them contenting themselves without any addition of Gentility and this mindeth me of a Passage in my memory One immoderately boasted that there was not one of his name in all England but that he was a Gentleman to whom one in the company retnrned I am sorry Sir you have never a good man of your name Sure I am in Kent there is many a hospital Yeoman of great ability who though no Gentleman by Descent and Title is one by his Means and state let me also adde by his courteous carriage though constantly called but Goodman to which Name he desireth to answer in all respects A Man of KENT This may relate either to the Liberty or to the courage of this County-men Liberty the tenure of Villanage so frequent elsewhere being here utterly unknown and the bodies of all Kentish persons being of free condition In so much that it is holden sufficient for one to avoid the Objection of bondage to say that his Father was born in Kent Now seeing servi non sunt viri quia non sui sur is A bond-man is no man because not his own man the Kentish for their Freedome have atchieved to themselves the name of Men. Others refer it to their courage which from the time of King Canutus hath purchased unto them the precedency of marching in our English Armies to lead the Van. JOANNES Sarisbur De egregiae Curial 6 cap. 16. Ob egregiae virtutis meritum quod potenter patenter exercuit Cantia nostra primae Cohortis honorem primos congressus Hostium usque in omnibus diem in omnibus praeliis obtinet For the deâ—…ert of their worthy valour which they so powerfully and publickly expressed Our Kent obtaineth even unto this day the honor of the first Regiment and first assaulting the Enemy in all Battails Our Authour lived in the Reign of Henry the Second and whether Kentish-men retain this Priviledge unto this day wherein many things are turned upside-down and then no wonder it also forward and backward is to me unknown Neither in KENT nor Christendome This seems a very insolent expression and as unequal a division Surely the first Anthour thereof had small skill in even distribution to measure an Inch against an Ell yea to weigh a grain against a pound But know Reader that this home-Proverb is calculated onely for the elevation of our own Country and ought to be restrained to English-Christendome whereof Kent was first converted to the Faith So then Kent and Christendome parallel to Rome and Italy is as much as the First cut and all the Loafe besides I know there passes a report that Henry the fourth King of France mustering his Souldiers at the siege of a City found more Kentish-men therein than Forraigners of all Christendome beside which being but seventy years since is by some made the Original of this Proverb which was more ancient in use and therefore I adhere to the former Interpretation alwayes provided Si quid novisti rectius istis Candidus imperti Si non his utere mecum If thou know'st better it to me impart If not use these of mine with all my heart For mine own part I write nothing but animo revocandi ready to retract it when better evidence shall be brought unto me Nor will I oppose such who understand it for Periphrasis of NO-WHERE Kent being the best place of England Christendome of the World KENTISH Long-TAILES Let me premise that those are much mistaken who first found this Proverb on a Miracle of Austin the Monk which is thus reported It happened in an English Village where Saint Austin was preaching that the Pagans therein did beat and abuse both him and his associats opprobriously tying Fish-tails to their back-side In revenge whereof an impudent Author relateth Reader you and I must blush for him who hath not the modesty to blush for himselfe how such Appendants grew to the hind-parts of all that Generation I say they are much mistaken for the Scaene of this Lying Wonder was not laied in any Part of Kent but pretended many miles off nigh Cerne in Dorsetshire To come closer to the sence of this Proverb I conceive it first of outlandish extraction and cast by forraigners as a note of disgrace on all the English though it chanceth to stick only on the Kentish at this Day For when there happened in Palestine a difference betwixt Robert brother of Saint Lewis King of France and our William Longspee Earle of Salisbury heare how the French-man insulted over our nation MATTHEW PARIS Anno Dom. 1250. pag. 790. O timidorum caudatoruÌ„ formidolositas quà m beatus quà m mundus praesens foret exercitus si à caudis purgaretur caudatis O the cowardliness of these fearful Long-tails How happie how cleane would this our arm ie be were it but purged from tails and Long-tailes That the English were nicked by this speech appears by the reply of the Earle of Salisbury following still the metaphor The son of my father shall presse thither to day whither you shall not dare to approach his horse taile Some will have the English so called from wearing a pouch or poake a bag to carry their baggage in behind their backs whilest probably the proud Monsieurs had their Lacquies for that purpose In proof whereof they produce ancient pictures of the English Drapery and Armory wherein such conveyances doe appear If so it was neither sin nor shame for the common sort of people to carry their own necessaries and it matters not much whether the pocket be made on either side or wholly behinde If any demand how this nick-name cut off from the rest of England continues still entaild on Kent The best conjecture is because that county lieth nearest to France and the French are beheld as the firstfounders of this aspersion But if any will have the Kentish so called from drawing and dragging boughs of trees behind them which afterwards they advanced above their heads and so partly cozened partly threatned King William the Conqueror to continue their ancient customes I say if any will impute it to this original I will not oppose KENTISH Gavel Kind It is a custome in this County whereby the lands are divided equally among all the sons and in default of them amongst the daughters
of the Sea c. I confesse the modern mystery of Watch-making is much completed men never being more curious to divide more carelesse to imploy their time but surely this was accounted a master-peece in that age His Sermons so indeared him to King Edward 6. that he preferred him whilst as yet scarce thirty six yeares of age to the Bishoprick of Rochester then of Winchester But alas these honor 's soon got were as soon lost being forced to fly into high Germany in the first of Queen Mary Where before he was fully fourty and before he had finished his Book begun against Thomas Martin in defence of Ministers marriage he died at Strasburg the 2. August 1556. And was buried there with great Lamentation RICHARD FLETCHER was born in this County Brother to Doctor Giles Fletcher the Civilian and Embassadour in Russia and bred in Bennet Colledge in Cambridge He was afterwards Dean of Peterborough at what time Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay to whom he made saith my Authour Verbosam Orationem a Wordy speech of her past present and future condition wherein he took more pains that he received thanks from her who therein was most concerned Hence he was preferred Bishop of Peterborough and at last of London my Authour saith he was Presul Splendidus and indeed he was of a comly presence and Queen Elizabeth knew full well Gratior est pulcro veniens è corpore virtus The Iewel vertue is more Grac'd When in a proper person Cas'd Which made her alwayes on an equality of Desert to reflect favourably on such who were of Graceful countenance and stature In one respect this Bishop may well be resembled to John Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury of whom I find this Character Quanquam gestu incessu saepeetiami n Sermone gloriosus videretur elatus animo tamen fuit benignissimo perquam comi Although he seemed a boaster and puffed up both in gesture and gaâ—…e and sometimes in his speech also yet was he of a loving disposition exceeding courteous Such a one was Bishop Fletcher whose pride was rather on him than in him as only gate and gesture-deep not sinking to his heart though causelesly condemned for a proud man as who was a good Hypocrite and far more humble than he appeared He married a Lady of this County who one commendeth for very vertuous which iâ—… so the more happy she in her self though unhappy that the world did not believe it Sure I am that Queen Elizabeth who hardly held the second matches of Bishops excusable accounted his marriage a trespasse on his gravity whereupon he fell into her deep displeasure Hereof this Bishop was sadly sensible and seeking to lose his sorrow in a mist of smoak died of the immoderate taking thereof June the fifteenth 1596. BRIAN DUPPA D. D. the worthy Bishop of Winchester was born at Lewsham in in this County staying for farther instructions I am forced to deferre his life to our Additions States-Men Sir EDWARD POYNINGS Knight was in martial performances inferiour to none of his age and a Native of this County as from the Catalogue of the Sheriffs therein may be collected We will insist only on his Irish Action being employed by King Henry the seventh to conjure down the last walking Spirit of the House of York which haunted that King I mean Perkin Warbeck Having ferreted him out of Ireland he seriously set him self to reclaim that barbarous Nation to civility and in order thereunto passed an Act in Parliament whereby all the Statutes made in England bâ—…fore that time were enacted established and made of force in Ireland He caused also another Law to be made that no Act should be propounded in any Parliament in Ireland till first it had been transmitted into England approved there by the King and returned thence under his broad Seal Now though this Act seemeth prima facie prejudicial to the liberty of the Irish Subjects yet was it made at the request of the Commons upon just important cause being so sensible of the oppression and Laws imposed by private Lords for their particular ends that they rather referred themselves to the Kings Justice than to the merciless mercy of so many Masters Also to conform Ireland to England he procured the passing of an Act that the Irish Barons should appear in Parliament in their Robes which put a face of Grandeur and State on their Convention And indeed formalities are more than Formalities in matters of this nature essentiall to beget a veneration in barbarous people who carry much of their Brain in their Eyes He thriftily improved the Kings Revenues and obtained a Subsidy of twenty six shillings eight pence payable yearly for five years out of every six score Acres manured The worst was the burden fell on their backs whose Islands were most industrious whereby the Soveraign became not more wealthy but the Subjects more lazy the mischief being as apparent as the remedy impossible Many more large Laws of his making found but narrow performance viz. only within the Pale Nor was Henry the seventh though in title in trâ—…th Lord of all Ireland but by the favour of a Figure and large Synechdeche of a part for the whole These things thus ordered Sir Edward was recalled in to England created a Baron and dying in the beginning of King Henry the eight left a numerous natural but no legitimate issue Sir ANTHONY St. LEGER is rationally reputed a Kentish man though he had also a Devonshire Relation as will appear to such who peruse the Sheriffs of this County He was properly the first Vice-Roy of Ireland seeing shadows cannot be before their substance and in his Deputy-ship Henry the eight in the 33. year of his reign assumed the Title of King and Supream Head of the Church of Ireland To him all the Irish Nobility made their solemn submission falling down at his feet upon their knees laying aside their Girdles Skeines and Caps This was the fourth solemn submission of the Irish to the Kings of England and most true it is such seeming submissions have been the bane of their serious subjection For out of the Pale our Kings had not power either to Punish or Protect where those Irish Lords notwithstanding their Complemental Loyalty made their list the law to such whom they could over-power He caused also certain Ordinances of State to be made not altogether agreeable with the Rules of the Law of England a satisfactory reason hereof being given in the Preamble to them Quia nondum sic sapiunt leges Jura ut secundum ea jam immediate vivere regi possint Because the Irish as yet do not so savour the Laws of England as immediately to live after and be ruled by them Thus the greatest Statesmen must sometimes say by your leave to such as are under them not acting alway according to their own ability but others capacity He seized all
the Abby Lands in Ireland for the Kings use a flower of the Crown which alone had made a Posey if continued thereunto But alas the Revenues of Abby Lands are as 〈◊〉 as their buildings nothing more than the rubbish thereof remaining in the Kings Exchequer He made a Law that no Children should be admitted to Church livings which importeth the frequency of that abuse in former times He perswaded O Neile O Brian c. to go over into England to surrender their lands into the Kings hands promising they should receive them again from him by Letters Patents with the Addition of Earls which was done accordingly At his desire the King conferred on them Houses nigh Dublin that residing there they might suck in Civility with the Court air These things thus setled he returned into England and died as I take it in the raign of King Edward the sixth Sir HENRY SIDNRY was son to Sir William Sidney of Pensherst in this County who by his own worth was advanced into the favour of Queen Elizabeth never a whit the lesse for marrying Mary Dudley sister to Robert Earl of Leicester he was by her made Knight of the Garter Lord President of Wales and for eleven years off and on Deputy of Ireland Now though generally the Irish are querelous of their Deputies what Patient for the present will praise his Chirurgion who soundly searcheth his sore yet Sir Henry left a good memory and the monuments of a good Governor behind him 1. He made Annaly a Territory in Loynsteresse by the Sept of Offerralles one entire Shire by it self called the County of Longford he likewise divided the Province of â—…onaght into six Counties 2. In a Parliament held the eleventh of Elizabeth he abolished the pretended and usurped Captain-ships and all extortions incident thereunto 3. He caused an Act to pass whereby the Lord Deputy was authorized to accept the surrenders of the Irish Seâ—…gniories and to re-grant estates unto them to hold of the Crown by English Tenures and Services 4. Because the inferiour sort of the Irish were poor and not Amesâ—…able by Law he provided that five of the best persons of every Sept should bring in all the persons of their surname to be justified by the Law 5. A Law was made that for the civil education of the youth there should be one Free Schoole at least in every Diocesse 6. To acquaint the people of Mounster and Conaght with the English Government again disused amongst them for two hundred years he instituted two Presidency Courts in those two Provinces 7. To augment the Revenues of the Crown he resumed and vested therein by the power of the same Parliament more than half the Province of Ulster upon the attainder of Shane O Neale 8. He raised Customs upon the principal Commodities of the Kingdom and reformed the abuses of the Exchequer by many good instructions from England 9. He established the Composition of the Pale in lieu of Purveyance and Sesse of Souldiers It must not be forgotten that he caused the Statutes of Ireland unto his own time to be printed and so saith my Author ex umbra in solem eduxit he brought them out of the shadow into the sun-shine Whereas formerly they were only in Manuscript a sad case that men should be obliged to the observation of those Laws scarce ever seen by one in an hundred subjected thereunto Being to leave Ireland Anno 1578. and now ready to go up into his Ship he took his leave thereof with the words of the Psalmist When Israel came out of Egypt and Jacob from a strange people rejoycing in heart that he came with a clear conscience from that dangerous employment He died at Worcester May the fifth 1586. and his Corps being brought to Pensherst were there solemnly interred amongst his Ancestors I will close his Life with this Encomium which I find in a Worthy Author His disposition was rather to seek after the Antiquities and the Weal-Publick of those Countries which he governed than to obtain lands and revenues within the same for I know not one foot of Land that he had either in Wales or Ireland Sir PHILIP SIDNEY Reader I am resolved not to part him from his Father such the Sympathy betwixt them living and dying both within the compass of the same year Otherwise this Knight in relation to my Book may be termed an Ubiquitary and appear amongst Statesmen Souldiers Lawyers Writers yea Princes themselves being though not elected in election to be King of Poland which place he declined preferring rather to be a Subject to Queen Elizabeth than a Soveraign beyond the Seas He was born at Pensherst in this County son to Sir Henry Sidney of whom before and Sisters Son to Robert Earl of Leicester bred in Christs Church in Oxford Such his appetite to Learning that he could never be fed fast enough therewith and so quick and strong his digestion that he soon turned it into wholsome nourishment and thrived healthfully thereon His homebred abilities travel perfected with forraign accomplishments and a sweet Nature set a glosse upon both He was so essential to the English Court that it seemed maimed without his company being a compleat Master of Matter and Language as his Arcadia doth evidence I confesse I have heard some of modern pretended Wits cavil thereat meerly because they made it not themselves such who say that his Book is the occasion that many pretious hours are otherwise spent no better must acknowledge it also the cause that many idle hours are otherwise spent no worse than in reading thereof At last leaving the Court he followed the Camp being made Governor of Flushing under his Uncle Earl of Leicester But the Walls of that City though high and strong could not confine the activity of his mind which must into the Field and before Zutphen was unfortunately slain with a shot in a small skirmish which we may sadly tearm a great battel considering our heavy losse therein His Corps being brought over into England was buried in the Quire of St. Pauls with general lamentation Sir FRANCIS WALSINGHAM Knight was born in this County wherein his Family long flourished at Chiselhurst though I read that originally they fetch their name from Walsingham in Norfolk He was bred in Kings Colledge in Cambridge and gave the King of â—…pain his Bible to the Library thereof As a traveller many years beyond the 〈◊〉 he learnt experience as an Agent he practised it there and after his return a Secretary of State he taught it to many Emisaries imployed under him None alive did better ken the Secretary Craft to get Counsels out of others and keep them in himself Mâ—…rvellous his â—…agacity in examining suspected persons either to make them confesse the truth or confound themselves by denying it to their detection Cunning his hands who could unpick the Cabinets in the Popes Conclave quick his ears who could hear at London what
as when perceiving his old Palace at Otford to want water he struck his staff into the dry ground still called Saint Thomas his well whence water runneth plentifully to serve that house lately re-built unto this day Others spightful as when because a Smith dwelling in that Town had clogged his Horse he ordered that no Smith afterwards should thrive within that Parish But he who shall go about seriously to confute these Tales is as very a Fool as he was somewhat else who first impudently invented and vented them Prelates STEPHEN LANGTON Here we are at a perfect losse for the place of his birth his surname affording us so much direction in effect it is none at all Inopes nos copia fecit finding no fewer than twelve Langtons though none very near to this place which makes us fly to our marginal refuge herein Stephen born in England was bred in Paris where he became one of the greatest Scholars of the Christian world in his age He was afterwards consecrated Cardinal of Saint Chrysogone and then by Papal power intruded Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in defiance of all opposition which King John could make against him Many are his learned Works writing Comments on all the Old and on some of the New Testament He was the first that divided the whole Bible into Chapters as Robert Stephens a French-man that curious Critick and painful Printer so ne six score years since first subdivided into Verses A worthy Work making Scripture more managable in mens memories and the passages therein the sooner to be turned to as any person who is â—…ooner found out in the most populous City if methodized into Streets and Houses with signs to which the Figures affixed do fitly allude Say not this was a presumption incurring the curse denounced to such who adde to Scripture it being no Addition but an Illustration thereof Besides God set the first pattern to mens industry herein seeing the distinction of some Verses may be said to be Jure Divino as those in the Lamentations and elsewhere which are Alphabetically modelled As causless their complaint who cavil at the inequality of Chapters the eighth of the first of Kings being sixty six the last of Malachy but six verses seeing the entireness of the sense is the standard of their length or shortness It is confessed some few Chapters end and others begin obruptly and yet it is questionable whether the ateration thereof would prove advantageous seeing the reforming of a small fault with a great change doth often hurt more than amend and such alterations would discompose Millions of Quotations in excellent Authors conformed to the aforesaid received divisions Here it must not be concealed that notwithstanding this general tradition of Langtons chaptering the Bible some learned men make that design of far ancienter date and particularly that able Antiquary Sir Henry Spelman This I am confident of that Stephen Langton did something much material in order thereunto and the Improver is usually called the Inventor by a complemental mistake However though I believe Langton well employed in dividing the Bible he was ill busâ—…ed in rending asunder the Church and Kingdom of England reducing King Iohn to sad extremities He died and was buried at Canterbury Anno Dom. 1228. Souldiers WILLIAM PRUDE Esquire vulgarly called Proud was born in this City where his stock have continued for some hundreds of years bred a Souldier in the Low Countreys where he attained to be Lieutenant Colonel He was slain Iuly 12. 1632. at the siege of Mastrich His body which I assure you was no usual honour was brought over into England and buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury in Saint Michaels Chappel on the South side of the Quire with this Inscription on his Monument Stand Souldiers ere you march by way of charge Take an example here that may enlarge Your minds to noble Action Here in peace Rests one whose Life was War whose rich encrease Of Fame and Honour from his Valour grew Unbegg'd unbought for what he won he drew By just desert having in service been A Souldier till near sixty from sixteen Years of his active Life continually Fearless of Death yet still prepar'd to die In his Religious Thoughts for midd'st all harmes He bare as much of Piety as Armes Now Souldiers on and fear not to intrude The Gates of Death by th' example of this Prude He married Mary Daughter of Sir Adam Sprackling Knight and had Issue by her four Sons and three Daughters to whose memory his surviving Son Searles Prude hath erected this Monument Writers OSBERN of CANTERBURY so called because there he had his first birth or best Being as Chanter of the Cathedral Church therein An admirable Musitian which quality endeared him though an Englishman to Lankfrank the Lordly Lombard and Arch-Bishop of Canterbury He was the English Jubal as to the curiosity thereof in our Churches An Art which never any spake against who understood it otherwise Apollo is in a sad case if Midas his ears must be his Judges However in Divine Service all Musick ought to be tuned to edification that all who hear may understand it otherwise it may tend to delight not devotion and true zeal cannot be raised where knowledge is depressed This Osbern wrote the life of Saint Dunstan in pure Latine according to that age flourishing under William the Conquerer Anno 1070. SIMON LANGTON was by his Brother Stephen Langton the Arch-Bishop preferred Arch-Deacon of Canterbury who Carne sanguine revelante saith the Record made the place much better both to him and his successors in revenue and jurisdiction A troublesome man he was and on his Brothers score a great adversary to King Iohn even after that King had altered his Copy and became of a fierce Foe a Son-Servant to the Pope by resigning his Crown unto him But our Simon could not knock off when he should having contracted such an habit of hatred against K. Iohn that he could not depose it though commanded under the pain of excommunication This caused him to trudge to the Court of Rome where he found little favour For such who will be the Popes white Boyes must watchfully observe his signals and not only charge when he chargeth but retreat when he retreateth This Simon beside others wrote a Book of the penitence of Magdalene in relation it seems to himself though she found more favour in the Court of Heaven than he at Rome He died Anno Dom. 12 Benefactors to the Publick JOHN EASDAY was Alderman and Mayor of this City Anno 1585. He found the Walls thereof much ruined and being a man but of an indifferent estate began the reparation thereof at Ridingate and therein proceeded so far as his name is inscribed on the Wall whose exemplary endeavours have since met with some to commend none to imitate them THOMAS NEVILE born in this City of most honourable extraction as his name is enough to notifie
and returning in the Raign of King Edward the sixâ—… became a Preacher of London He and Mr. Hooper were the two greatest Sticklers against Ceremonies though otherwise allowing of Episcopal Government He was the first Martyr who suffered in Smithfield in Queen Maries dayes and led all the rest of whom we may truly say that if they had not beâ—…n flesh and blood they could not have been burnt and if they had been no more then flesh and blood they would not have been burnt The Non-Conformists account it no small Credit unto them that one of their Opinion as who would not flinch from the faith was chosen by Divine Providence the first to encounter the fire Such may remember that no Army is all FRONT and that as constant did come behinde as went before Had those of an opposite judgment been called first they had come first to the stake and in due time the defenders of Ceremonies were as substantial in their Sufferings This John Rogers was martyred Febr. 4. 1555. JOHN BRADFORD was born at * Manchester in this County and bred first a Lawyer in the Inns of Court and for a time did solicite Suits for Sr. John Harrington afterwards saith my * Authour ex Rixoso Causidico mitissimus Christi Apostolus going to Cambridg a man in maturity and ability the University by special Grace bestowed on him the Degree of Master of Art and so may he be said to Commence not only per saltum but per volatum The Jesuit doth causlesly urge this his short standing for an Argument of his little understanding whereas he had alwayes been a hard Student from his youth and his Writings and his Disputings give a sufficient Testimony of his Learning It is a demonstration to me that he was of a sweet temper Because Parsons who will hardly afford a good VVord to a Protestant saith that he seemed to be of a more soft and milde nature than many of his fellowe 〈◊〉 Indeed he was a most holy and mortified man who secretly in his closet would so weep for his sinnes one would have thought he would never have smiled again and then appearing in publick he would be so harmlesly pleasant one would think he had never wept before But Mr. Fox his pains have given the pens of all Posterity a VVrit of ease to meddle no more with this Martyr who suffered Anno Dom. 1555. GEORGE MARSH was born at Dean in this County bred a good Scholar in a Grammer-School and then lived in the honest condition of a Farmer after the death of his wife he went to Cambridge where he followed his Studies very close and afterwards solemnly entring into Orders became a profitable Preacher and Curate to Mr. Lawrence Sanders the worthy Martyr Causlesly therefore doth Parsons asperse him that he of a Farmer turned a Preacher as if he had done it immediately with many of our Age leaping from the plough to the pulpit concealing his Academical breeding such is the Charity of his jesuitical reservation As little is his Charity for condemning him for answering 〈◊〉 and fearfully at first to such who examined him about the Sacrament of the Altar seeing the said Marsh condemned himself for doing it as therein too much consulting carnal Respects to save his life as appears in Mr. Fox whence the Jesuite fetcheth all his Information But Marsh made amends for all these failings with his final constancy being both burnt and scalded to death having a barrel of pitch placed over his head an accent of cruelty peculiar to him alone when he was martyred at VVestchester Apr. 24. 1555. Cardinals WILLIAM ALAN was born in this County saith my Authour nobilibus parentibus of 〈◊〉 Parentage He was bred in Oriel Colledg in the University of Oxford and became Head of Sâ—… Maries Hall therein Then going beyond the Seas he became Kings 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 Cannon of Cambray and Rhemes and at last by Pope Sixtus Quint us made Cardinal priest of Martins in Rome 1587. and deserved his Red Hat by his good Service the year after against his Native Country But hear what Different Characters two Authours of several perswasions bestow upon him PITZEU 〈◊〉 ANO. Script page 792. GODWIN in his Catalogue of Cardinals page 479. He was somewhat above an ordinary man in Stature comely of Countenance composed in his Gaâ—…e affable in all Meetings and for the Gifts of his Mind Pious Learned Prudent Grave and though of Great Authority Humble modest meek patient peaceable in a word beautified and adorned with all kinds of Virtues He was the last of our English Cardinals in time and first in wickedness deserving not to be counted among English men who as another Herostratus to atchieve himself a name amongst the Grandees of Earth endeavoured to fire the Church of England the Noblest without envy be it spoken in the Christian World so that his memory deserveth to be buried in oblivion He collected the English Exilâ—…s into a Body and united them in a COLLEDG first at Doway then at Rhemes so great an Advancer that we may behold him as Founder of that Seminary He â—…yed at Rome Anno 1594. and preferred rather to be buried in the English School than in the Church of St. Martins which gave him the Title of Cardinal Prelates HUGH OLDHAM born in this County at Oldham a Village some fix miles from Manchester bred in Queens Colledge in Cambridge was no ill Scholar and a good Man most pious according to and above the Devotion of the Age he lived in he was afterwards Bishop of Exeter a Foe to a Monkish Superstition and a Friend to University Learning Brazen-Nose Colledge in Oxford and Corpus-Christi Colledge therein will for ever bear witnesse of his bounty to advance Religion and Learning Besides the Town of Manchester have good cause to remember him who founded and endowed a School therein with large Revenue appointing the Warden of the Colledge therein Caput Scholae This Bishop having a tough contest with the Abbot of Tavestock was excommunicated for refusing to stand to the decision of the Court of Rome He had formerly built a Chapel in the South side of his Cathedrall and dying excommunicate on the aforesaid account was Buried not in the very Church but brink thereof and body of the Wall He dyed Anno Dom. 1520. JAMES STANLEY D. D. brother of Thomas Earl of Darby was born in this County and was by K. Henry the seaventh his kinsman by marriage preferred Bishop of Ely 1506. a man more memorable than commendable who never resided at his own Cathedral I can partly excuse his living all the Summer with the Earl his Brother in this County but must condemn his living all the Winter at his Mannour at Somersham in Huntingtonshire with one who was not his sister and wanted nothing to make her his Wife save mariage However if Jehu allowed a Burial to his most profest Enemy on this account that
to inherit Happiness so severe her Education VVhilest a childe her Father's was to her an House of Correction nor did she write Woman sooner than she did subscribe Wife and in Obedience to her Parents was unfortunately matched to the L. Guilford Dudley yet he was a goodly and for ought I â—…ind to the contrary a Godly Gentleman whose worst fault was that he was Son to an ambitious Father She was proclaimed but never crowned Queen living in the Tower which Place though it hath a double capacity of a Palace and a Prison yet appeared to her chiefly in the later Relation For She was longer a Captive than a Queen therein taking no contentment all the time save what she found in God and a clear Conscience Her Family by snatching at a Crown which was not lost a Coronet which was their own much degraded in Degree and more in Estate I would give in an Inventory of the vast Wealth they then possessed but am loth to grieve her surviving Relations with a List of the Lands lost by her Fathers attainture She suffered on Tower-Hill 〈◊〉 on the twelfth of February KATHARINE GREY was second Daughter to Henry Duke of Suffolk T is pity to part the Sisters that their Memories may mutually condole and comfort one another She was born in the same place and when her Father was in height married to Henry Lord Herbert Son and Heir to the Earl of Pembroke buâ—… the politick old Earl perceiving the case altered and what was the high way to Honour turned into the ready road to Ruin got pardon from Queen Mary and brake the marriage quite off This Heraclita or Lady of Lamentation thus repudiated was seldome seen with dry eyes for some years together sighing out her sorrowful condition so that though the Roses in her Cheeks looked very wan and pale it was not for want of watering Afterward Edward Seymour Earl of Hertford married her privately without the Queens Licence and concealed till her pregnancy discovered it Indeed our English Proverb It is good to be near a kin to Land holdeth in private patrimonies not Titles to Crowns where such Aliances hath created to many much molestation Queen Elizabeth beheld her with a jealous Eye unwilling she should match either Forreign Prince or English Peer but follow the pattern she set her of constant Virginity For their Presumption this Earl was fined fifteen thousand pounds imprisoned with his Lady in the Tower and severely forbidden her company But Love and Money will find or force a passage By bribing the Keeper he bought what was his own his Wifes Embraces and had by her a surviving Son Edward Ancestor to the Right Honourable the Duke of Somerset She dyed January 26. a Prisoner in the Tower 1567. after nine years durance therein MARY GREY the youngest Daughter frighted with the Infelicity of her two Elder Sisters Jane and this Katharine forgot her Honour to remember her Safety and married one whom she could love and none need fear Martin Kayes of Kent Esq. who was a Judge at Court but only of Doubtful casts at Dice being Seâ—…jeant-Porter and died without Issue the 20. of April 1578. Martyrs HUGH LATIMER was born at Thurcaston in this County what his Father was and how qualified for his State take from his own mouth in his first Sermon before King Edward being confident the Reader will not repent his pains in perusing it My Father was a Yeoman and had no Lands of his own onely he had a Farme of three or four Pounds a Year at the uttermost and hereupon he tilled so much as kept halfe a dozen men he had walk for an Hundred Sheep and my Mother milked thiry Kine he was able and did finde the King an HARNESS with himself and his Horse whilest he came unto the Place that he should receive the Kings Wages I can remember I buckled his Harness when he went to Black Heath Field He kept me to School or else I had not been able to have Preached before the Kings Majestie now He married my Sisters with Five Pounds or twenty Nobles a piece so that he brought them up in Godliness and Fear of God He kept Hospitallity for his Poor Neighbours and some Almes He gave to the Poor and all this did he of the same Farme where he that now hath it payeth sixteen pounds by the Year and more and is not able to do any thing for his Prince for himself nor for his Children or give a Cup of Drink to the Poor He was bred in Christ's Colledg in Cambridg and converted under God by Mr. Bilney from a Violent Papist to a Zealous Protestant He was afterwards made Bishop of Worcester and four Years after outed for refusing to subscribe the six Articles How he was martyred at Oxford 1555. is notoriously known Let me add this Appendix to his Memory when the Contest was in the House of Lords in the Raign of K. Henry the Eighth about the giving all Abby Lands to the King There was a Division betwixt the Bishops of the Old and New Learning for by those Names they were distinguished Those of the Old Learning unwillingly willing were contented that the King should make a Resumption of all those Abbies which his Ancestors had founded leaving the rest to continue according to the Intention of their Founders The Bishops of the new Learning were more pliable to the Kings Desires Only Latimer was dissenting earnestly urging that two Abbies at the least in every Diocess of considerable Revenues might be preserved for the Maintenance of Learned men therein Thus swimming a good while against the stream he was at last carried away with the Current Eminent Prelates before the Reformation GILBERT SEGRAVE Born at Segrave in this County was bred in Oxford where he attained to great Learning as the Books written by him do declare The first Preferment I find conferred on him was The Provosts place of St. Sepulchers in York and the occasion how he obtained it is remakable The Pope had formerly bestowed it on his near Kinsman which argueth the good value thereof seeing neither Eagles nor Eagles Birds do feed on Flyes This Kinsman of the Popes lying on his death bed was troubled in Conscience which speakâ—…eth loudest when men begin to be speechlesse and all Sores pain most when nere night that he had undertaken such a Cure of Souls upon him who never was in England nor understood English and therefore requested the Pope his Kinsman that after his Death the Place might be bestowed on some Learned English-man that so his own absence and negligence might in some sort be repaired by the Residence and diligence of his Successor And this Segrave to his great Credit was found the fittest Person for that Performance He was afterwards preferred Bishop of London sitting in that See not full four years dying Anno Dom. 1317. WALTER DE LANGTON was born at VVest-langton in this County He was highly in favour
whom the Cheif Justice therin said Your Kinsman was my Predecessour in the Court and a great Lawyer My Lord replied the Gentleman he was a very honest man for he left a small estate But indeed though his estate was not considerable compared to his Successors then present it was in it self of a good valuation Writers WILLIAM DE LEICESTER otherwise called William de Montibus which I would willingly English William of the Woulds was born in Leicester in this County bred in Oxford where he was Doctor and Professor of Divinity so eminent for his Learning that he was known to and much beloved by the Nobility of the land He was also known by the name of Mr. William an evidence I assure you sufficient to avouch his Majesterialty in all Learning He was removed to Lincolne and became first Canon then Chancelour of the Church Boston of Bury reckoneth up many and Learned Books of his making He flourished under King John 1210. and lyeth buryed at Lincolne RICHARD BELGRAVE was born saith J. Pitz at Chichester in Sussex but at Belgrave in Leicester-shire saith Mr. William Burton whom I rather beleive because he wrote a particular Description of this County Now surely the more is the exactness of the Authour the less the extent of his Subject especially making it his Set-work what was Pits his by-work to observe the Natives of this Shire But both agree him to be a Carmelite bred in Cambridge an excellent Divine and good Schoolman more Learned then eloquent He wrote one Book of Theological Determinations and another of Ordinary Questions flourishing in the year 1220 under King Edward the Second ROBERT DE LEICESTER was born therein but bred in Oxford a Franciscan Fryer He was one of those who brought preaching into Fashion in that age and was much esteemed for his faculty therein by most of the Nobility But Robert Mascall Bishop of Hereford as pious and learned as any in that age had an extraordinary affection for him Our Leicestrian Robert appeareth also a good Chronologer having written judiciously of the Hebrew and Roman Computation In his reduced age he retired to Leichfield where he dyed and was buryed in the Monastery of the Franciscans 1348. THOMAS RATCLIF born at Ratcliffe in this County was bred an Augustinian in Leicester where he was Ordinis sui Episcopus strain the Word no higher then to overseer of his order He had Ingenium fecundum amplum and pity it was that he had Vitae institutum sterile angustum However to enlarge his Soul he wrote divers Books and flourished anno 1360. BARTHOLOMEVV CULIE was born at Radoliffe-Culie in this County as the exact Describer thereof avoucheth And therefore Pitz committeth a double mistake about this One Writer first calling him Conway then making him a Welshman by his Nativity How hard is it to commit one and but one Error This Bartholomew was an excellent Philosopher and wrote a Book of Generation and Corruption and although J. Pitz. confesseth himself ignorant of the time he lived in my Authour assureth me that he flourished under King Edward the third WILLIAM DE LUBBENHAM was born at Lubbenham in this County brought up in Oxford a good Philosopher and a Divine was after a White Fryer or Carmelite in Coventry and after became Provincial of the Order which place he kept till he dyed He wrote upon Aristotles Posteriors and one Book of ordinary Questions He dyed in the White Fryers in Coventry 1361. in the 36. year of K. Edward the Third JEFFERY DE HARBY was born at Harby in this County and bred in Oxford where he became Provincial of the Augustines and Confessor to K. Edward the Third Wonder not when meeting with so many Confessors to that King presuming he had but one at one time Conscience not standing on State and variety in that kind For know King Edward reigned 50. years and Confessors being aged before admitted to their place his Vivaciousnesse did wear out many of them Besides living much beyond the Seas it is probable that he had his Forraign and his Home Confessors Our Jeffery was also of his Privy Counsel being as prudent to advise in matters politick as pious in spiritual concernments Such as admired he was not preferred to some wealthy Bishoprick must consider that he was ambitious and covetous to be poor and wrote a violent Book in the praise and perfection thereof against Armachanus Dying in London he was buryed in the Church of the Augustines about the Year 1361. WILLIAM DE FOLVIL was born at Ashbye-Folvil in this County and therefore when Bale calleth him Lincolniensem understand him not by County but by Diocesse He was bred a Franciscan in the University of Cambridge and engaged himself a great Master of defence in that doughty quarrel pro pueris induendis that children under the age of 18. might be admitted into Monastical orders For whereas this was then complained of as a great and general grievance that by such preproperous Couling of Boyes and vailing of Girles Parents were cozened out of their children and children cozened out of themselves doing in their Minority they knew not what and repenting in their maturity not knowing what to do our Folvil with more passion then reason maintained the legality thereof He dyed and was buryed in Stamford anno 1384. HENRY DE KNIGHTON was born at Knighton in this County sometime Abbot of Leicester who wrote his History from William the Conquerour to the time of King Richard the Second in whose Reign he dyed It seemeth Lelandus non vidit omnia nor his shadow Bale nor his shadow Pits all three confessing that the History of this Knighton never came to their hands Whereas of late it hath been fairly printed with other Historians on the commendable cost of Cornelius Bee Thus it is some comfort and contentment to such whom Nature hath denyed to be Mothers that they may be drye Nurses and dandle Babes in their Laps whom they cannot bear in their Wombs And thus this Industrious Stationer though no Father hath been Foster Father to many worthy Books to the great profit of posterity WILLIAM WOODFORD I cannot fixe his Nativity with any certainty because so many Woods and Fords and would the former did continue as well as the latter and consequently so many Towns called Woodfords in England He is placed here because his Surname in this age flourished in great Eminency in this County He was bred a Franciscan and though Bilious Bale giveth him the Character of Indoctè Doctus we learn from Leland that he was one of profound Learning and Thomas Waldensis owneth and calleth him Magistrum suum His Master Indeed Woodford set him the first Copy of Railing against Wickliffe being deputed by T. Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury to confute publickly in Writing his Opinions He dyed and was buryed at Colchester 1397. THOMAS LANGTON was born at
himself in the same garments till the Childs Cloaths become his Chains putting off his Feet by putting on his Shoos not able to run to any purpose and so is soon taken The same Humour otherwise persued betrayeth the Dotterells As the Fowler stretcheth forth his Arms and Legs going towards the Bird the Bird extendeth his Legs and Wings approaching the Fowler till surprised in the Net But it is observed that the Foolisher the Fowl or Fish Woodcocks Dotterels â—…odsheads c. the Finer the Flesh thereof Feathers It is Pity to part Lancashire Ticking lately spoken of and Lincoln-shire Feathers making so good Beds together I cannot find the first beginning of Feather-Beds the Latine word Pulvinar for a Cusheon Pillowe or Bolster sheweth that the Entrals of such Utensils amongst the Romans were made but of Dust and our English plain Proverb De Puerperis they are in the Straw shows Feather-Beds to be of no ancient use amongst the Common sort of our Nation and Beds of Down the Cream of Feathers are more Modern then they The Feathers of this County are very good though not so soft as such as are imported from Bardeaux in France and although a Feather passeth for the Emblem of Lightnesse it self they are heavy enough in their Prises to such as buy any Quantity and daily grow Dearer Pippins With these we will close the Stomach of the Reader being concluded most cordial by Physicians some conceive them to be of not above a hundred years seniority in England However they thrive best and prove biggest not Kentish excepted in this County particularly in Holland and about Kirton therein whence they have acquired addition of Kirton Pippins a wholsome and delicious Apple and I am informed that Pippins graffed on a Pippin stock are called Renates bettered in their generous Nature by such double extraction Fleet-Hounds In Latine called PETRONII or Petrunculi from Petra a Rock either because their Feet are sound and solid and therefore named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Xenophon or from the hard and rocky ground whereon they were accustomed to hunt These with much certainty of scent and quicknesse of feet will run down a Hare in a short time Janus Ulitius a Dutchman some 15 years since came into England though a man of the Gown employed in publick affairs for Diversion he went down into this County to spend one Winter where conversing with some young Gentlemen he hunted twice a Week with so great content that the season otherwise unpleasant was past before he perceived how it went Hear him expressing himself sed Petrunculi illi qui vestigiis eorum non minus celeriter quam sagaciter instant haud facile trihorio minus leporem aliquem defatigant ut in Lincolniensi montium aequijugi tractu aliquoties ipse vidi and yet I assure you the Hares in this County on Ancaster-Heath do though lesser far exceed in swiftnesse and subtilty of Doubling those of the Vallyes and Plains Such a Petronius or Fleet-hound is two Hounds in Effect Sed premit Inventas non inventura Latentes Illa feras quae Petroniis bene Gloria constat To the Petronian both the praise is due Quickly to find and nimbly to persue Grey-Hounds In Latin termed VELTRAGA or VERTRAGUS or VERTAGUS derived it seems from the Dutch Word VELT a Field and RACH or BRACH a Dog and of how high esteem the former and these were amongst the Ancients the Reader may infer from the old Burgundian Law Siquis Canem Veltraum aut Segutium vel Petrunculum praesumpserit involare jubemus ut convictus coram omni populo posteriora ipsius osculetur Martial speaking of these Greyhounds thus expresseth himself Non sibi sed Domino venatur Vertragus acer Illaesum Leporem qui tibi dente feret For 's Master not Himself doth Greyhound toyl Whose Teeth to thee return the unhurt spoyl I have no more to observe of these Greyhounds save that they are so called being otherwise of all Colours because originally imployed in the Hunting of Grays that is Brocks and Badgers Mas-Tiffes Known to the Romans by the name of Molossi from Molossia a County in Epirus whence the fiercest in that kind were fetched at first before better were brought out of Brittain Gratius an Ancient Poet Contemporary with Virgil writing his Cynegeticon or Poem of Hunting giveth great praise to our English Mastiffes highly commending their Valour only taxing them that they are not handsomly made Haec una est Catulis jactura Britannis The Brittish Whelps no blemish know But that they are not shap'd for show Which thing is nothing in my mind seeing beauty is no whit material to a Souldier This County breedeth choice Mastiffes for the Bull and Bear and the sport is much affected therein especially about Stamford whereof hereafter What remaineth concerning Mastiffes is referred to the same Topick in Somerset-shire Thus the three kinds of ancient hunting which distinctly require fleetnesse scent and strength are compleatly performed in this County by a Breed therein which are answerably qualified This I have inserted because as to my Native Country in general so to this here in particular I would not willingly do lesse right then what a Stranger hath done thereunto Before we come to Catalogue the Worthies of this County it is observable that as it equalled other Shires in all ages so it went beyond it self in one generation viz. in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth when it had Natives thereof 1. Edward Clinton Lord Admiral 2. William Cecil Lord Treasurer 3 Sir Edmund Anderson Lord Chief Justice 4. John Whitgift Arch-bishop of Canterbury 5. Peregrine Bartu Lord General in France 6. Tho. Wilson Dr. of Law and Secretary of State All Countrymen and Contemporaries Thus Sea and Land Church and Camp Sword and Mace Gospel and Law were stored with prime Officers out of this County Nor must it be forgotten though born in the same Shire they were utterly unrelated in Kindred and raised themselves independently as to any mutual assistance by Gods Blessing the Queens favour and their own deserts The Buildings Here the complaint of the Prophet taketh no place taxing men to live in Ceeled Pallaces whilst the Temple of God lay wast No County affording worse Houses or better Churches It addeth to the Wonder that seeing in this soft County a Diamond is as soon found as a Flint their Churches are built of Pollished Stones no Natives but Naturalized by importation from forreign parts I hope the Inhabitants of this Shire will endevour to disprove the old Proverb the nearer to the Church the further from God because they have substituted a better in the room thereof viz. The further from stone the better the Churches As for the Cathedral of Lincoln whose Floor is higher then the Roof of many Churches it is a magnificent Structure proportionable to the Amplitude of the Diocesse This I dare boldly say that no Diocesse in Christendome affordeth two such Rivers viz.
of the Carmelites in a Synode at Narbone deputed two English Provincials of that Order to the great grievance of our Lidlington refusing to subscribe to the Decisions of that Synode His stubbornesse cost him an Excommunication from Pope Clement the Fifth and four years Pennance of banishment from his Native Country Mean time our Lidlington living at Paris acquired great credit unto himself by his Lectures and Disputations At last he was preferred Provincial of the Carmelites in Palestine whence from Mount Carmel he fetched their Original and he himself best knew whether the Depth of his profit answered the Heigth of his Honour therein which I suspect the rather because returning into England he dyed and was buryed at Stanford anno Dom. 1309. NICHOLAS STANFORD He was born at that well-known Town once offering to be an University and bred a Bernardine therein The Eulogy given him by Learned Leland ought not to be measured by the Yard but weighed in the ballance Admirabar hominem ejus aetatis tam argute tam solido tamque significanter potuisse scribere I admired much that a man of his age could write so smartly so solidly so significantly Understand him not that one so infirm with age or decrepit in years but that one living in so ignorant and superstitious a generation could write so tercely flourishing as may be collected about the year of our Lord 1310. JOHN BLOXHAM was born at that Town in this County and bred a Carmelite in Chester I confess it is a common expression of the Country folk in this County when they intend to character a dull heavy blundering person to say of him he was born at Bloxham but indeed our Iohn though there first incradled had acuteness enough and some will say activity too much for a Fryer He advantagiously fixed himself at Chester a City in England nere Ireland and not far from Scotland much conducing to his ease who was supream prefect of his Order through those three Nations for two years and a half For afterwards he quitted that place so great was his employment under King Edward the second and third in several Embassies into Scotland and Ireland flourishing anno 1334. JOHN HORNBY was born in this County bred a Carmelite D. D. in Cambridge In his time happened a tough contest betwixt the Dominicans and Carmelites about Priority Plaintiffe Judges Defendant Dominican  Carmelite Iohn Stock or Stake rather so sharp and poinant his pen left marks in the Backs of his Adversaries Iohn Donwick the Chancellor and the Doctors of the University Iohn Hornby who by his preaching and writing did vindicate the seniority of his Order But our Hornby with his Carmelites clearly carried away the Conquest of precedency and got it confirmed under the authentique seal of the University However the Dominicans desisted not to justle with them for the upper hand until Henry the Eight made them friends by thrusting both out of the Land Our Hornby flourished anno Domini 1374 and was buried at his Convent in Boston BOSTON of BURY for so he is generally called I shall endevour to restore him first to his true name then to his native countrey Some presume Boston to be his Christian of Bury his Sirname But seeing Boston is no Font-name and Godfathers were consciencious in those dayes I appeal to all English Antiquaries in imposing if not Scripture or Saints names yet such as were commonly known the christianizing of Sirnames to baptized Infants being of more modern devise we cannot concur with their judgment herein And now thanks be to Doctor Iohn Caius who in the Catalogue of his Authors cited in the Defence of the Antiquity of Cambridge calleth him Iohn Boston of Bury being born at and taking his Sirname from Boston in this County which was customary for the Clergymen in those dayes though he lived a Monk in Bury Thus in point of Nativities Suffolk hath not lost but Lincoln-shire hath recovered a Writer belonging unto it He Travelled all over England and exactly perused the Library in all Monastaries whereby he was enabled to write a Catalogue of Ecclesiasticall Writers as well Forraign as English extant in his age Such his acuratness as not only to tell the Initiall words in Every of their Books but also to point at the place in each Library where they are to be had John Leland oweth as much to this Iohn Boston as Iohn Bale doth to him and Iohn Pits to them both His Manuscript was never Printed nor was it my happiness to see it but I have often heard the late Reverend Arch-Bishop of Armagh rejoyce in this that he had if not the first the best Copie thereof in Europe Learned Sir James WARE transcribed these Verses out of it which because they conduce to the clearing of his Nativity I have here Inserted Requesting the Reader not to measure his Prose by his Poetry though he dedicated it to no meaner then Henry the fourth King of England Qui legis hunc Librum Scriptorum Rex Miserere Dum scripsit vere non fecit ut aestimo pigrum Si tibi displiceat veniat tua Gratia grandis Quam cunctis pandis haec sibi sufficiat Scriptoris nomen Botolphi Villa vocatur Qui condemnatur nisi gratum det Deus Omen Sure it is that his Writings are Esteemed the Rarity of Rarities by the lovers of Antiquitys which I speak in Humble Advice to the Reader if possessed thereof to keep and value them if not not to despise his Books if on any Reasonable price they may be procured This Iohn Boston flourished Anno Dom. 1410. LAURENCE HOLEBECK was born saith my Author Apud Girvios that is amongst the Fenlanders I confess such people with their Stilts do stride over much ground the parcells of severall Shires Norfolk Suffolk Cambridg Huntington Northampton Lincolnshire But I have fixed him right in this County where Holebeck is not far from Crowland in Holland He was bred a Monk in the Abby of Ramsey and was very well skill'd in the Hebrew Tongue according to the rate of that Age. For the English-men were so great strangers in that Language that even the Priests amongst them in the Reign of King Henry the Eight as Erasmus reporteth Isti quicquid non intelligunt Haebraicum vocant counted all things Hebrew which they did not understand and so they reputed a Tablet which he wrote up in Walsingham in great Roman Letters out of the Rode of Common Cognizance Holebeck made an Hebrew Dictionary which was counted very exact according to those days I. Pitz doth heavyly complaine of Robert Wakefeild the first Hebrew Professor in Cambridg that he purloined this Dictionary to his private use whereon all I will observe is this It is resolved in the Law that the taking of another mans Sheep is Felony whilst the taking away of a Sheep-Pasture is but a Trespass the party pretending a right thereunto Thus I know many men so Conscientious that
they will not take twenty lines together from any Author without acknowledging it in the Margin conceiving it to be the fault of a Plagearie Yet the same Criticks repute it no great guilt to seize a whole Manuscript if they can conveniently make themselves the Masters though not Owners thereof in which Act none can excuse them though we have had too many Precedents hereof This Laurence died Anno Dom. 1410. BERTRAM FITZALIN Finding him charactered Illustri stemmate oriundus I should have suspected him a Sussex man and Allied to the Earls of Arundell had not another Author positively informed me he was patria Lincolniensis bred B. D. in Oxford and then lived a Carmelite in the City of Lincolne Here he built a faire Library on his and his freinds cost and furnish'd it with books some of his own making but more purchased He lived well beloved and dyed much lamented the seventeenth of March 1424. Writers since the Reformation EDMUND SHEFFEILD descended from Robert Sheffeild Recorder of London Knighted by King Henry the Seventh 1496 for his good Service against the Rebells at Black-Heath was born at Butterwick in the Isle of Axholm in this Country and was by King Edward the sixth Created Baron thereof Great his Skill in Musick who wrote a Book of Sonnets according to the Italian fashion He may seem Swan like to have sung his own Funeral being soon after Slaine or Murthered rather in a skirmish against the Rebells in Norwich first unhorsed and cast into a ditch and then Slaughtered by a Butcher who denyed him Quarter 1449. He was direct Anchester to the hopeful Earl of Moulgrave PETER MORVVING was born in this County and bred fellow of Magdalen Colledg in Oxford Here I cannot but smile at the great Praise which I Pitz bestoweth upon him Vir omni Latini sermonis elegantia bellè instructus qui scripta quaedam tum versu tum Prosa tersè nitidèque composuisse perhibetur It plainly appeareth he mistook him for one of his own perswasion and would have retracted this Caracter and beshrewed his own fingers for writing it had he known him to have been a most Cordial Protestant Nor would he have afforded him the Phrase of Claruit sub Philippo et Mariâ who under their Reigns was forced for his Conscience to fly into Germany where he supported himself by Preaching to the English Exiles I find not what became of him after his return into England in the Reigne of Queen Elizabeth ANTHONY GILBY was born in this County and bred in Christs Colledge in Cambridge where he attained to great skill in the three learned languages But which gave him the greatest Reputation with Protestants was that in the Reign of Queen Mary he had been an Exile at Geneva for his Conscience Returning into England he became a feirce fiery and furious opposer of the Church Discipline established in England as in our Ecclesiasticall History may appear The certaine date of his death is to me unknown JOHN FOX was born at Boston in this County and bred Fellow in Magdalen Colledg in Oxford He fled beyond the Seas in the Reign of Queen Mary where he set forth the first and least edition of the Book of Martyrs in Latine and afterwards returning into England inlarged and twice revised the same in our own language The story is sufficiently known of the two Servants whereof the one told his Master he would do every thing the other which was even Esop himself said he could do nothing rendering this reason because his former fellow servant would leave him nothing to do But in good earnest as to the particular subject of our English Martyrs Mr. Fox hath done every thing leaving posterity nothing to work upon and to those who say he hath overdone somthing we have returned our answer before He was one of Prodigious Charity to the poor seeing nothing could bound his bounty but want of mony to give away but I have largely written of his life and death in my Church History THOMAS SPARKS D. D. was born at South Sommercot in this County bred in Oxford and afterwards became Minister of Bleachley in Buckingham-shire An Impropriation which the Lord Gray of Wilton whose dwelling was at Whaddon hard-by Restored to the Church He was a solid Divine and Learned man as by his Works still extant doth appear At first he was a Non-conformist and therefore was chosen by that party as one of their Champions in the Conference of Hampton Court Yet was he wholy silent in that Disputation not for any want of Ability but because as afterwards it did appear he was Convinced in his Conscience at that Conference of the lawfullness of Ceremonies so that some accounted him King James's Convert herein He afterwards set forth a book of Unity and Uniformity and died about the year of our Lord 1610. Doctor TIGHE was born at Deeping in this County bred as I take it in the University of Oxford He afterwards became Arch Deacon of Middlesex and Minister of Alhallowes Barking London He was an excellent Textuary and profound Linguist the reason why he was imployed by King James in translating of the Bible He dyed as I am informed by his Nephew about the year of our Lord 1620. leaving to John Tighe his Son of Carby in this County Esquire an Estate of one thousand pounds a year and none I hope have cause to envy or repine thereat FINES MORISON Brother to Sir Richard Morison Lord President of Munster was born in this County of worshipfull extraction and bred a fellow in Peter-house in Cambridge He began his Travels May the first 1591 over a great part of Christendome and no small share of Turky even to Jerusalem and afterwards Printed his Observations in a large book which for the truth thereof is in good Reputation For of so great a Traveller he had nothing of a Traveller in him as to stretch in his reports At last he was Secretary to Charles Blunt Deputy of Ireland saw and wrote the Conflicts with and Conquest of Tyrone a discourse which deserveth credit because the Writers cye guide his pen and the privacy of his place acquainted him with many secret passages of Importance He dyed about the year of our Lord 1614. Benefactors to the Publique Having formerly presented the Reader with two Eminent ones Bishop Wainfleit Founder of New Colledge and Bishop Fox Founder of Corpus Christi in Oxford He if but of an ordinary appetite will be plentifully feasted therewith so that we may proceed to those who were Since the Reformation WILLIAM RATCLIFF Esq And four times Alderman of the Town of Stamford died Anno Dom. 1530. Gave all his Messuages Lands and Tenements in the Town to the Maintenance of a Free-School therein which Lands for the present yeild thirty pounds per Annum or there-abouts to a School-Master and Usher I am informed that an Augmentation was since
what is good for it but it is especially used for mollifying the hardness and opening the stopping of the Belly Manufactures Leather This though common to all Counties is entred under the Manufactures of Middlesex because London therein is the Staple-place of Slaughter and the Hides of beasts there bought are generally tanned about Enfield in this County A word of the antiquity and usefulness of this commodity Adams first suit was of leaves his second of Leather Hereof Girdles Shoes and many utensils not to speak of whole houses of Leather I mean Coaches are made Yea I have read how Frederick the second Emperour of Germany distressed to pay his Army made Monetam Coriaceam Coin of Leather making it currant by his Proclamation and afterwards when his Souldiers repayed it into his Exchequer they received so much silver in lieu thereof Many good-laws are made and still one wanting to enforce the keeping of them for the making of this Merchantable commodity and yet still much unsaleable leather is sold in our Markets The Lord Treasurer Barleigh who always consulted Artificers in their own Art was indoctrinated by a Cobler in the true Tanning of Leather This Cobler taking a slice of Bread tosted it by degrees at some distance from the fire turning many times till it became brown and hard on both sides This my Lord saith he we good Fellowes call a Tanned Tost done so well that it will last many mornings draughts and Leather thus leisurely tanned and turned many times in the Fat will prove serviceable which otherwise will quickly fleet and rag out And although that great Statesman caused Statutes to be made according to his instructions complaints in this kind daily continue and encrease Surely were all of that Occupation as honest as Simon the Tanner the entertainer of Simon Peter in Joppa they would be more conscientious in their calling Let me add what experience avoweth true though it be hard to assign the true cause thereof that when Wheat is dear Leather alwayes is cheap and when Leather is dear then Wheat is cheap The Buildings HAMPTON COURT was built by that pompous Prelate Cardinal Woolsey one so magnificent in his expences that whosoever considereth either of these three would admire that he had any thing for the other two left unto him viz. His House-building House-keeping House-furnishing He bestowed it on King Henry the eight who for the greater grace thereof erected it Princes can conferr dignities on Houses as well as persons to be an honour increasing it with buildings till it became more like a small City than a House Now whereas other royal Pallaces Holdenby Oatlands Richmond Theobalds have lately found their fatal period Hampton Court hath a happiness to continue in its former estate Non equidem invideo miror magis undique totis Usque adeo spoliatur agris I envy not its happy lot but rather thereat wonder There 's such a rout our Land throughout of Pallaces by Plunder Let me add that Henry the Eight enforrested the grounds hereabouts the last of that kinde in England though they never attained the full reputation of a Forrest in common discourse OSTERLY HOUSE now Sir William Wallers must not be forgotten built in a Park by Sir Thomas Gresham who here magnificently entertained and lodged Queen Elizabeth Her Majesty found fault with the Court of this House as too great affirming That it would appear more handsome if divided with a Wall in the middle What doth Sir Thomas but in the night-time sends for workmen to London money commands all things who so speedily and silently apply their business That the next morning discovered that Court double which the night had left single before It is questionable whether the Queen next day was more contented with the conformity to her fancy or more pleased with the surprize and sudden performance thereof Whilest her Courtiers disported themselves with their several expressions some avowing it was no wonder he could so soon change a Building who could Build a Change others reflecting on some known differences in this Knights Family affirmed That any house is easier divided than united Proverbs A Middlesex Clown Some English words innocent and in-offensive in their primitive Nation are bowed by Custome to a disgraceful sense as Villain originally nothing but a Dweller in a Village and Tiller of the Ground thereabouts Churle in Saxon Coorel a strong stout Husbandman Clown from Colonus one that plougheth the ground without which neither King nor Kingdome can be maintained of which Middlesex hath many of great Estates But some endeavour to fix the Jgnominious sense upon them as if more arrant Rusticks then those of their condition elsewhere partly because Nobility and Gentry are respectively observed according to their degree by People far distant from London less regarded by these Middlesexians frequency breeds familiarity because abounding thereabouts partly because the multitude of Gentry here contraries are mutuall Commentaries discover the Clownishness of others and render it more Conspicuous However to my own knowledge there are some of the Yeomantry in this County as compleatly Civill as any in England He that is a low Ebbe at Newgate may soon be a Flote at Tieburne I allow not this Satyricall Proverb as it makes mirth on men in Misery whom a meer man may pity for suffering and a good man ought to pity them for deserving it Tieburne some will have it so called from Tie and Burne because the poor Lollords for whom this instrument of Cruelty to them though of Justice to Malefactors was first set up had their necks tied to the Beame and their lower parts burnt in the fire Others will â—…ave it called from Twa and Burne that is two Rivolets which it seems meet near to the place But whencesoever it be called may all endeavour to keep themselves from it though one may justly be Confident that more souls have gone to Heaven from that place then from all the Churches and Church-yards in England When Tottenham-Wood is all on fire Then Tottenham-Street is naught but mire I find this Proverbe in the Description of Tottenham written by Mr. William Bedwell one of the most learned Translators of the Bible And seeing so grave a Divine stoop'd to solow a subject I hope I may be admitted to follow him therein He thus expoundeth the Proverb When Tottenham-Wood of many hundred-Acres on the top of an high hill in the West-end of the Parish hath a foggie mist hanging and hovering over it in manner of a smoak then generally foul weather followeth so that it serveth the Inhabitants instead of a Prognostication I am confident as much mire now as formerly in Tottenham-Street but question whether so much wood now as anciently on Tottenham-hill Tottenham is turn'd French I find this in the same place of the same Author but quoting it out of Mr. Heiwood It seems about the beginning of the Reign of King Henry the eigth French Mechanicks swarmed in
England to the great prejudice of English Artisans which caused the insurrection in London on ill May-day Anno Dom. 1517. Nor was the City onely but Country Villages for four miles about filled with French fashions and infections The Proverb is applied to such who contemning the custome of their own Country make themselves more ridiculous by affecting forraign humours and habits Princes EDVVARD sole surviving Son of King Henry the eight and Jane his Wife was born at Hampton Court in this County Anno Dom. 1537. He succeeded his Father in the Kingdome and was most eminent in his Generation seeing the Kings of England fall under a five-fold division 1. Visibly Vicious given over to dissolutenesse and debauchery as King Edward the second 2. Potius extra vitia quà m cum virtutibus Rather free from Vice then fraught with Virtue as King Henry the third 3. In quibus aequali temperamento magnae virtutes inerant nec minora vitia In whom Vices and Virtues were so equally matched it was hard to decide which got the Mastery as in King Henry the eight 4 Whose good qualities beat their bad ones quite out of distance of Competition as in King Edward the first 5 Whose Virtues were so resplendent no faults humane frailties excepted appeared in them as in this King Edward He died July 5. 1553. and pity it is that he who deserved the best should have no monument erected to his memory indeed a brass Altar of excellent workmanship under which he was buried I will not say sacrificed with an untimely death by the treachery of others did formerly supply the place of his Tombe which since is abolished under the notion of superstition Guesse the goodness of his head and heart by the following letters written to Barnaby Fitz-Patrick Gentleman of his Bedchamber and brought up with him copyed out from the Originalls by the Reverend Arch-Bishop of Armagh and bestowed upon me Say not they are but of narrow and personal concernment seeing they are sprinkled with some passages of the Publique Neither object them written by a Child seeing he had more man in him than any of his Age. Besides Epistles are the calmest communicating truth to Posterity presenting History unto us in her night cloths with a true face of things though not in so fine a dress as in other kindes of writings EDVVARD We have received your Letters of the eighth of this present moneth whereby we understand how you are well entertained for which we are right glad and also how you have been once to goe on Pilgrimage For which cause we have thought good to Advertise you that hereafter if any such chance happen you shall desire leave to goe to Mr. Pickering or to Paris for your business And if that will not serve to declare to some man of Estimation with whom you are best acquainted that as you are loth to offend the French King because you have been so favourably used so with safe conâ—…cience you cannot do any such thing being brought up with me and bound to obey my Laws Also that you had Commandment from me to the Contrary yet if you be vehemently procured you may go as waiting on the King not as intending to the abuse nor willingly seeing the Ceremonies and so you look on the Masse But in the mean season regard the Scripture or some good Book and give no reverence to the Masse at all Furthermore remember when you may conveniently be absent from the Court to tarry with Sir William Pickering to be instructed by him how to use your self For Women as far forth as you may avoid their Company Yet if the French King command you you may some time Dance so measure be your meane else apply your self to Riding Shooting Tennis or such honest games not forgetting some times when you have leisure your learning cheifly reading of the Scriptures This I write not doubting but you would have done though I had not written but to spur you on your exchange of 1200 Crowns you shall receive either monthly or quarterly by Bartholomew Campaignes Factor in Paris He hath warrant to receive it by here and hath written to his Factors to deliver it you there we have signed your Bill for wages of the Chamber which Fitzwilliams hath likewise we have sent a Letter into Ireland to our Deputy that he shall take Surrender of your Fathers Lands and to make again other Letters Patent that those Lands shall be to him you and your Heirs lawfully begotten for ever adjoyning thereunto two religious Houses you spake for Thus fare you well from Westminster the 20 of December 1551. Mr. BARNABY I have of late sent you a Letter from Bartholmew Campaigne for your payment by the French Embassadors Pacquet I doubt not but your good nature shall profitably and Wisely receive the Kings Majesties Letter to you Fatherly of a Child Comfortably of your Soveraign Lord and most wisely of so young a Prince And so I beseech you that you will think wheresoever you go you carry with you a Demonstration of the Kings Majesty coming a Latere Suo and bred up in Learning and Manners with him with your conservation and modesty let me therefore believe the good reports of the King to be true and let them perceive what the King is when one brought up with him Habeat Virtutis tam Clarum Specimen This I write boldly as one that in you willeth our Masters honour and credit and I pray you use me as one that loveth you in plain termes Scribled in hast from Westminster the 22 of December 1551. Yours to use and have W. Cecill To the KINGS MAIESTY According to my bounden Duty I most humbly thank your Highness for your gratious Letters of the 20 of December lamenting nothing but that I am not able by any meanes nor cannot deserve any thing of the goodness your Highness hath shewed towards me And as for the avoiding of the company of the Ladies I will assure your Highness I will not come into their Company unless I do wait upon the French King As for the Letter your Majesty hath granted my Father for the assurance of his Lands I thank your Highness most humbly confessing my self as much bound to you as a Subject to his Soveraign for the same As for such simple news as is here I thought good to certifie your Majesty It did happen that a certain Saint standing in a blind corner of the Street where my Lord Admirall lay was broken in the night-time when my Lord was here which the French men did think to have been done by the English-men and the English-men did think it to have been done by some French-men of spite because the English-men lay in that street and now since that time they have prepared another Saint which they call our Ladie of Silver because the French King that dead is made her once of clean Silver and afterwards was stoln like as she hath been divers times both stolen
Râ—…ward 〈◊〉 a Feild 〈◊〉 more safe and no less honourable in my Opinion Sir Ralph was of the second sort and the last which survived in England of that Order Yet was he little in stature tall not in person but performance Queen Eliz. made him Chanceâ—…our of the Dutchy During his last Embassie in Scotland his house at Standon in Herâ—…forashire was built by his Steward in his absence far greater then himself desired so that he never joyed therein and died soon after Anno 1587. in the 80 year of his age Howâ—…ver it hath been often filled with good Company and they feasted with great chear by the Hereditary Hospitality therein I must not forget how when this Knight attended his Master the Lord Cromwel at Rome before the English renounced the Papal power a â—…ardon wâ—…s granted not by his own but a Servants procuring for the Sins of that Famiâ—…y for three immediate Generations expiring in R. Sadlier Esquire lately dead which was extant but lately lost oâ—… displaced amongst their Records and though no use was made thereof much mirth was made therewith Capital Judges and Writers on the Law Sir THOMAS FROVVICK Knight was born at Elinge in this County son to Thomas Frowick Esquire By his Wife who was Daughter and Heire to Sir John Sturgeon Knight giving for his Armes Azure three Sturgeons Or under a fret Gules bred in the study of our Municipal Law wherein he attained to such eminency that he was made Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas on the 39 of September in the 18 year of the Reign of King Henry the seventh Four years he sate in his place accounted the Oracle of Law in his Age though one of the youngest men that ever enjoyed that Office He is reported to have dyed floridâ juventute before full forty years old and lyeth buryed with Joane his Wife in the Church of Finchley in this County the Circumscription about his Monument being defaced onely we understand that his death hapned on the seventeenth of October 1506. He left a large Estate to his two Daughters whereof Elah the Eldest was married to Sir John Spelman one of the Justices of the Kings Bench Grand-Father to Sir Henry that Renowned Knight Sir WILLIAM STAMFORD Knight was of Staffordian extraction Robert his Grand-Father living at Rowley in that County But William his Father was a Merchant in London and purchased Lands at Hadley in Middlesex where Sir William was born August 22. 1509. He was bred to the study of our Municipal Lawes attaining so much eminence therein that he was preferred one of the Judges of the Common Pleas His most learned Book of the Pleas of the Crown hath made him for ever famous amongst men of his own profession There is a Spirit of Retraction of one to his native Country which made him purchase Lands and his son settle himself again in Staffordshire this worthy Judge died August 28 and was buried at Hadley in this Shire in the last year of the Reign of Queen Mary 1558. Writers JOHN ACTON I find no fewer then seventeen Actons in England so called as I conceive Originally from Ake in Saxon an Oake wherewith antiently no doubt those Townes were well stored But I behold the place nigh London as the Paramount Acton amongst them Our Iohn was bred Doctor of the Laws in Oxford and afterwards became Canon of Lincolne being very able in his own faculty He wrote a learned Comment on the Ecclesiasticall Constitutions of Otho and Ottob one both Cardinalls and Legats to the Pope in England and flourished under King Edward the First Anno 1290. RALPH ACTON was bred in the University of Oxford where he attained saith my Author Magisterium Theologicum and as I understand Magister in Theologiâ is a Doctor in Divinity so Doctor in Artibus is a Master of Arts. This is reported to his eternall Commendation Evangelium regni Dei fervore non modico praedicabat in medijs Romanarum Superstitionum Tenebris And though somtimes his tongue lisped with the Siboleth of the superstition of that age yet generally he uttered much pretious truth in those dangerous days and flourished under King Edward the second Anno 1320. ROGER TVVIFORD I find eleven Towns so named in England probably from the confluence of two fords thereabouts and two in this County He was bred an Augustinian Friar studied in both Universities and became a Doctor in Divinity In his declining age he applyed himself to the reading of the Scripture and the Fathers and became a painfull and profitable Preacher I find him not fixed in any one place who is charactered Concionum propalator per Dioecesin Norvicensem an Itinerant no Errant Preacher through the Diocess of Norwich He was commonly called GOODLUâ—…K and Good-Luck have he with his honour because he brought good success to others and consequently his own welcome with him whithersoever he went which made all Places and Persons Ambitious and Covetous of his presence He flourished about the year of our Lord 1390. ROBERT HOVVNSLOVV was born in this County at Hownslow a Village well known for the Road through and the Heath besides it He was a Fryar of the Order of the Holy Trinity which chiefly imployed themselves for the redemption of Captives Indeed Locusts generally were the devourers of all food yet one kind of Locusts were themselves wholesome though course food whereon Iohn Baptist had his common repast Thus Fryers I confess generally were the Pests of the places they lived in but to give this order their due much good did redound from their endeavours For this Robert being their Provinciall for England Scotland and Ireland rich people by him were affectionately exhorted their Almes industriously collected such collections carefully preserved till they could be securely transmitted and thereby the liberty of many Christian Captives effectually procured He wrote also many Synodall sermons and Epistles of confequence to severall persons of quality to stir up their liberality He flourished sayes Pitseus Anno Dom. 1430. a most remarkable year by our foresaid Author assigned either for the flourishing or for the Funeralls of eleven famous writers yet so as our Robert is dux gregis and leads all the rest all Contemporaries whereas otherwise for two or three eminent persons to light on the same year is a faire proportion through all his book De illustribus Angliae scriptoribus Since the Reformation WILLIAM GOUGE Born at Stratford-Bow in this County bred in Kings Colledge in Cambridge where he was not once absent from publique service morning and evening the space of nine years together He read fifteen Chapters in the Bible everyday and was afterwards Minister of Blackfryers in London He never took a journey meerly for pleasure in all his Life he preached so long till it was a greater difficulty for him to go up into the Pulpit then either to make or preach a Sermon and dyed aged seventy nine years leaving
practice in shooting from their Infancy then to their strength and Stature so that it is rather Difuse then disability in our age that we cannot shoot the like and since the Invention of Guns the Light use we make of Arrows have made them the lighter in the making Mint Many of these anciently in most Cities and some Towns These afterwards as so many Spangles in one peice of Gold were united in the Tower Of late it was much imployed to coin the Plate of our Nation to make State-mony whence one said Caesaris Effigies nulla est sed imaginis Expers Crux duplex super est dira gemensque Lyra. And Another May their Successe like to their Coin appear Send double Crosses for their Single Chear Sure I am their Coin goeth under a general suspicion of being as bad as their Cause But I hope hereafter when the Question is asked of our Coiners Whose Image and Superscription is this it will be returned the Caesars of England Ward-robe This was not that for the Kings wearing apparel or liveâ—…es of Servants kept elsewhere in an House so called in the Parish of St. Andrews Ward robe but for Vests or Robes of State with rich Carpets Canopies and Hangings to be used on great Solemnities Here lately was a rich peice of Arras presenting the Sea-fight in eighty eighth and having the living portractures of the chiefest Commanders wrought in the borders thereof On the same token that a Captain who highly prized his own service missing his picture therein complained of the injury to his friend professing of himself that he merited a place there as well as some therein remembred seeing he was ingaged in the middle of the Fight Be content quoth his friend thou hast been an old Pirate and art reserved for another hanging There were also kept in this place the ancient Cloaths of our English Kings which they wore on great Festivals so that this Ward robe was in effect a Library for Antiquaries therein to read the Mode and Fashion of Garments in all ages These King James in the beginning of his Reign gave to the Earl of Dunbar by whom they were sold resold and re-re-resold at as many hands almost as Briarius had some gaining vast Estates thereby The Unicorns-Horn Amongst the many precious rarities in the Tower this as another in Windsor-Castle was in my memory shown to people It belongs not to me to enquire what is become of them but rather to discuss 1. Whether there be such a creature as an Unicorn 2. What kind of Animal it is 3. What the fashion and colour of his Horn. 4. What the use effect of his Horn. For the first they produce a weak proof who alledge them to be the Supporters of the Scottish-arms and of the arms of some English Gentlemen particularly of the Family of Paris in Cambridge-shire seeing most Heralds wear the addition of Painters and the Fancy of Painters pretends to the priviledge of a lawlesse Liberty But besides that it is uncivil to give the lye to a common Tradition the former existence of such a creature and surely no Species is wholly lost is cleared from several places of Scripture God hath as it were the strength of an Unicorn Will the Unicorn be willing to serve thee My Horn shalt thou exalt like the Horn of an Unicorn c. True it is the Word in the Original importeth nothing of any Horn therein as doth the Latin Unicornis and the Greek Monoceros Yet I am confident it is right rendred because it is so rendred Such was the Learning and Piety of the persons imployed in that Translation Proceed we now to the second Quaere about the kind thereof Surely it is distinct from the Rhinoceros carrying a Horn not on his Forehead but on his Nose because the Exaltation of his Horn is not considerable as not bunching forth much above a Foot in the prominency thereof He is commonly pictured bodyed like a Buck with a Horn advanced out of his Forehead some two Yards in proportion and this his Picture confuteth his Picture seeing generally he is held to be no Beast of Prey but which feedeth on the grass and if so his Mouth cannot meet with the Ground the Interposition of his Horn so fancifully fixed making so great distance betwixt them The plain Truth is I who first questioned whether there were any Unicorns am since convinâ—…ed that there are so many sorts of them The Indian Oxe the Indian Asse the Oâ—…yx c. famous for carrying one Horn but which is the prize in this Lottery I cannot decide seeing none alive in our Land have seen a four footed Beast of that kind and Julius Scaliger saith truly Ex libris colligere quae prodider unt Authores longe est periculosissimum Rerum ipsarum cognitio vera è rebus ipsis est OLAUS WORME One no lesse a curious Inquirer into the Mysteries then careful preserver of the Rarities of Nature Physician at this day to the King of Denmark in a Learned Work which he lately set forth endevoureth to prove all under a general mistake who fancy a Unicorn a four footed Beast proving the same to be a Fish in the Northern Seas of 22. Foot in Length a long horn in his Forehead no more cumbersome in the portage then Ears are to other Beasts with which Horn he tilteth at his prey and having pierced it through doth afterward feed upon it If it be objected to the contrary that in Scripture he is ranked amongst the Quaâ—… And the Unicorns shall come down with them and the Bullocks with the Bulls and their Land shall be soaked with blood and their Dust made Fat with Fatnesse It will be answered that Unicorns there are not real but metaphorical rendred appellatively Robusti in some Translations importing that strong Enemies both by Water and Land shall invade Idumaea to the utter destruction thereof Come we now to the fashion and colour of the Horn conceiving it no considerable controversie concerning the length and bignesse thereof quantity not varying the kind in such cases Some are plain as that in St. Marks in Venice others wreathed about as that at St. Dyonis neer Paris with anfractuous spires and cocleary turnings about it which probably is the effect of age those Wreaths being but the wrinkles of most vivacious Unicorns The same may be said of the colour white when newly taken from his Head Yellow like that lately in the Tower of some hundred years seniority but whether or no it will ever turn black as that of Aelians and Plinies Description let others decide The last Quaere remains of the virtue of this Horn which some exalt so high that it is not only antidotal to several Venomes and substances destructive by their qualities which we can command our selves to believe but also that it resisteth poysons which kill by second qualities that is by corrosion of parts wherein I concur with my
of Durham but continued not long therein for he dyed in the 75 year of his Age 6th of February Anno Domini 1631. and was buried in St. Pauls in London JOHN DAVENANT D. D. born in Watling-street was son to John Davenant a Wealthy Citizen whose father was of Davenants lands in Essex When an Infant newly able to go he fell down a high pair of staires and rising up at the bottome smiled without having any harme God and his good Angels keeping him for further service in the Church When a child he would rather own his own frowardnesse than anothers flattery and when soothed up by the servants that not John but some other of his brothers did cry He would rather appear in his own face than wear their disguise returning that it was none of his brothers but John only cryed He was bred first Fellow-Commoner then Fellow then Margaret Profeslor then Master of Queens â—…lledge in Cambridge At a publick Election he gave his negative voice against a near Kinsman and a most excellent Scholar Cosen said he I will satisfie your father that you have worth but not want enough to be one of our Society Returning from the Synod of Dort he was elected Bishop of Sarum 1621. After his Consecration being to perform some personal Service to King James at Newmarket he refused to ride on the Lords Day and came though a Day later to the Court no lesse welcome to the King not only accepting his excuse but also commending his seasonable forbearance Taking his leave of the Colledge and of one John Rolfe an ancient servant thereof he desired him to pray for him And when the other modestly returned that he rather needed his Lordships Prayers Yea John said he and I need thine too being now to enter into a Calling wherein I shall meet with many and great Temptations PÅ•aefuit qui profuit was the Motto written in most of his Books the sense whereof he practised in his Conversation He was humble in himself and the Consequence thereof charitable to others Indeed once invited by Bishop Field and not well pleased with some Roisting Company there he embraced the next opportunity of departure after Dinner And when Bishop Field proferred to light him with a Candle down Stairs My Lord my Lord said he let us lighten others by our unblameable Conversation for which Speech some since have severely censured him how justly I interpose not But let others unrelated unto him write his Character whose Pen cannot be suspected of Flattery which he when living did hate and dead did not need We read of the Patriarch Israel that the time drew nigh that he must dye Must a necessity of it Such a decree attended this Bisâ—…op happy to dye before his Order for a time dyed April 1641. and with a solemn Funeral he was Buried in his own â—…dral Dr. Nicholas now Dean of St. Pauls preaching an excellent Sermonâ—…t â—…t his In terment MATHEVV WREN D. D. was born in this City not far from Cheap-side but descended as appears by his Arms from the worshipful Family of the Wrens in Northumberland He was bred Fellow of Pembroke-hall in Cambridge where he kept the extraordinary Philosophy Act before King James I say kept it with no lesse praise to himself then pleasure to the King where if men should forget even Dogs would remember his seasonable distinction what the Kings hounds could perform above others by vertue of their prerogative He afterward became an excellent Preacher and two of his Sermons in the University were most remarkable one preached before the Judges on this Text And let Judgement run down like waters and righteousnesse as a mighty stream at what time the draining of the Fens was designed suspected detrimental to the Univerâ—…ity The other when newly returned from attending Prince Charles into Spain on the words of the Psalmist abyssus abyssum invocat one depth calleth another He was afterwards preferred Master of Peterhouse Dean of Windsor Bishop of Norwich and Ely Some in the Long Parliament fell so heavily on him that he was imprisoned in the Tower almost fifteen years and his cause never heard Surely had the imposers been the sufferers hereof they would have cryed it up for a high piece of injustice But as St. Paul had the credit to be brought with intreaties out of Prison by those who sent him thither so this Prelate hath had the honour that the same Parliamentary power though not constituted of the same persons which committed him caused his Inlargement still living 1661. Statesmen Sir THOMAS MORE was Anno Domini 1480 born in Milkstreet London the 〈◊〉 that ever shined in that Via lactea sole Son to Sir John More Knight one of the Justices of the Kings Bench. Some have reported him of mean parentage meerly from a mistake of a modest word in an Epitaph of his own making on his Monument in Chelsey Church Where Nobilis is taken not in the civil but Common Law sense which alloweth none Noble under the degree of Barons Thus men cannot be too wary what they inscribe on Tombs which may prove a Record though not in Law in History to posterity He was bred first in the Family of Arch-bishop Morton then in Canterbury Colledge now taken into Christ Church in Oxford where he profited more in two then many in ten years continuance Thence he removed to an Inn of Chancery called New Inn and from thence to Lincolns Inn where he became a double Reader Then did his worth prefer him to be Judge in the Sheriffe of Londons Court whilst a Pleader in others And although he only chose such causes which appeared just to his Conscience and never took Fee of Widow Orphane or poor person he gained in those days four hundred pounds per annum Being made a Member of the House of Commons he opposed King Henry the Seventh about money for the Marriage of his Daughter Margaret Whereat the King was much discontented when a Courtier told him that a beardlesse Boy beard was never the true Standard of brains had obstructed his desires Which King being as certain but more secret then his son in his revenge made More the mark of his Displeasure who to decline his anger had travelled beyond the Seas had not the Kings going into another World stopped his journey King Henry the Eighth coming to the Crown and desirous to ingratiate himself by preferring popular and deserving persons Knighted Sir Thomas and made him Chancelour of the Dutchy of Lancaster the Kings personal patrimony Finding him faithfull in lesser matters according to the method of the Gospel he made him in effect Ruler of all when Lord Chancelour of England a place wherein he demeaned himself with great integrity and with no less expedition In testimony of the later it is recorded that calling for the next cause it was returned unto him there are no more to be heard all Suits in that Court depending and
Indeed I read of a Company of â—…hysicians in Athens called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they would take no Money of their Patients and our St. German was of their Judgement as to his Clients 5. Ability being excellently skill'd in Civil Caxon and Common Law so that it was hard to say wherein he excelled Add to these his skill in scripture witnesse his Book called The Doctor and Student where the former vics Divinity with the Lâ—…w of the later 6. Industry he wrote several works wherein he plainly appeareth not only a Favourer of but Champion for the Reformation 7 Vivacity Lâ—…ving to be above eighty years old and dying anno Dom. 1593. was buryed at St. Alphage London near Criplegate WILLIAM RASTAL was born in this City Sisters Son to Sir Thomas More and was bred in the Study of our Common Law and whoever readeth this passage in Pitz. will thence conclude him one of the two Chief Justices of England Pitz. de Ang. Script Aetat 16. anno 1565. Factus est Civilium Criminalium causarum alter ex duobus per Angliam supremis Judicibus whereas in deed he was but one of the Justices of the Kings Bench yet his Ability and Integrity did capacitate him for higher preferment being also a person of Industry He wrote the Life and set forth the Works of his Uncle More made a Collection of and Comment on the statutes of England Great was his Zeal to the Roâ—…ish Religion flying into Flanders with the changing of his Countrey under King Edward the Sixth he changed the nature of his Studies but then wrote worse Books on a better subject I mean Divinity He undertook Bishop Juel as much his over match in Divinity as Rastal was his in the common Law The Papists are much pleased with him for helping their cause as they conceive and we are not angry with him who hath not hurt ours in any degree He dyed at Lovain 1565. and lyeth buryed with his Wife in the same Tomb and this Epitaph may be bestowed on him Rastallus tumulo cum conjuge dormit in uno Unius carnis Pulvis unus erit Know that Winifrid Clement his Wife was one of the greatest Female Scholars an exact Grecian and the Crown of all most pious according to her perswasion Souldiers No City in Europe hath bred more if not too many of late and indeed we had had better Tâ—…adesmen if worse Souldiets I dare not adventure into so large a Subject and will instance but in one to keep possession for the rest submitting my self to the Readers censure whether the Parties merit or my private Relation puts me on his Memorial Sir THOMAS ROPER Son of Thomas Roper Servant to Queen Elizabeth was born in Friday Street in London whose Grandfather was a younger Son of the House of Heanour in Derby shire Indeed Furneaux was the ancient name of that Family until Richard Furneaux marryed Isald the Daughter of ..... Roper of Beighton in the County of Derby Esquire and on that Consideration was bound to assume the name of Roper by Indenture Dated the Sâ—…venth of Henry the Sixth This Sir Thomas Going over into the Lowe Countries became Page to Sir John Norrice and was Captain of a Foot Company at sixteen years of age what afterwards his Martial performances were to avoid all suspicion of Flattery to which my Relation may incline me I have transcribed the rest out of the Original of his Patent Cum Thomas Roper Eques auratus è Secretioribus Concilliariis nostris in regno nostro Hyberniae jampridem nobis Bellicae virtutis Splendore clarus innotuerit Utpote qui quam plurimis rebus per eum in nuperrimo bello hujus Regni fortiter gestis praeclarum Nomen Strenui Militis prudentis Ducis reportavit Cujus virtus praecipuè in recessu in Provinciâ nostrâ Conaciae prope Le Boyle emicuit ubi paucissimis admodum equestribus ingentes equitum turmas per Regni Meditullia hostiliter grassantes fortiter aggressus Ita prudentiâ suâ singulari receptui cecinit ut non modo se suos sed etiam totum exercitum ab ingenti periculo Liberavit hostesque quam plurimos ruinae tradidit Qui etiam cum Provincia nostra Ultoniae bello deflagaverat ob exploratam animi fortitudinâ—…m ab honoratissimo Comite Essexiae exercitus tunc imperatore unius ex omnibus designatus fuit ad Duellum eum Makal uno ex fortissimis Tyronentium agminum ducibus suscipiendum nisi praedictus Makal duello praedicto se exponere remisset Cumque etiam praedictus Thomas Roper in nuperrimo Bello apud Brest in Regno Gallie se maximis periculis objiciendo sanguinem suum effundendo Fortitudinem suam invictam demonstravit Qui etiam in expeditione Portugalenci se fortiter ac honorifice 〈◊〉 ac etiam apud Bergen in Belgio cum per Hispanos obsideretur invictissimae fortitudinis juvenem in defensione ejusdem se praebuit Qui etiam in expugnationis Kinsalensis die primus 〈◊〉 juxta 〈◊〉 propissime constitutus fuerat Hispanesque ex eo oppido sepius eodem die 〈◊〉 fortissime felicissimeque ad maximam totius exercitus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 profligavit Sciatis igitur quod nos intuitu praemissorum Dominum Thomam Roper millitem c. Whereas Thomas Roper Knight one of our Privy Councellors of our Kingdome of Ireland long since hath been known unto us famous with the Splendor of his Warlike vertue As who by the many Atchievements valiantly performed by him in the late War of this Kingdome hath gained the eminent Repute both of a stout Souldier and a discâ—…eet Commander whose Valour chiefly appeared in his Retreat near Le Boyle in â—…ur Province of Conaught where with very few horse he undantedly charged great Troops of the Horse of the Enemy who in a Hostile manner forraged the very Bowels of the Kingdome and by his Wisdome made such a singular retreat that he not only saved himself and his men but also delivered the whole Army from great danger and slew very many of his Enemies Who also when our Province of Ulster was all on Fire with war being one out of many was for the tryed resolution of his mind chosen by the Right Honorable the E. of Essex then General of the Army to undertake a Duel with Makal one or the stoutest Captains in the Army of Tyrone had not the said Makal declined to expose himself to the appointed Duel And also when the aforesaid Thomas Raper in the late war in the Kingdome of France at Brest by exposing himself to the greatest perils and sheding of his own bloud demonstrated his courage to be unconquerable Who also iâ—… the voyage to Portugal behaved himself valiantly and honorably as also at Bergen in the Nether-lands when it was besiedged by the Spaniards approved himself a young man of 〈◊〉 valour in the defence thereof Who also in the day wherin Kinsale was assaulted was
Saint John's then Master of Pembroke hall in Cambridge His studies were suitable to his years when young a good Philosopher witness his book of Meteors afterwards his endeavours ascended from the middle region of the aire to the highest heavens when he bâ—…came a pious and solid Divine Now the Romanists seeing they could no longer blind-fold their Laitie from the Scriptures resolved to fit them with false spectacles and set forth the Rhemish Translation which by Doctor Fulke was learnedly confuted though he never attained any great preferâ—…ent in the Church Here it is worth our pains to peruse the immediate succession of Masters in Pembroke-hall because unparallel'd in any English Foundation Edm. Grindall Archp. of Cant. Mat. Hutton Archp. of York Jo. Whitgift Archp. of Cant. Jo. Young 〈◊〉 of Rochester William Fulke D. D. Lanc. Andrews Bp. of Winchester Sam. Harsnet Archp. of York Nic. Felton Bp. of Eely Here though all the rest were Episcopated Doctor Fulke was but Doctor Fulke still though a man of great merit This proceeded not from any disaffection in him to the Hierarchie as some would fain suggest but principally from his love of privacy and place of Margaret-Professour wherein he died Anno Dom. 1589. EDMOND SPENCER born in this City was brought up in Pembroke-hall in Cambridge where he became an excellent Scholar but especially most haypy in English Poetry as his works do declare In which the many Chaucerisms used for I will not say affected by him are thought by the ignorant to be blemishes known by the learned to be beauties to his book which notwithstanding had been more salable if more conformed to our modern language There passeth a story commonly told and believed that Spencer presenting his Poems to Queen Elizabeth She highly affected therewith commanded the Lord Cecil Her Treasurer to give him an hundred pound and when the Treasurer a good Steward of the Queens money alledged that sum was too much then give him quoth the Queen what is reason to which the Lord consented but was so busied belâ—…ke about matters of higher concernment that Spencer received no reward Whereupon he presented this petition in a small piece of paper to the Queen in her Progress I was promis'd on a time To have reason for my rhyme From that time unto this season I receiv'd nor rhyme nor reason Hereupon the Queen gave strict order not without some check to her Treasurer for the present payment of the hundred pounds she first intended unto him He afterwards went over into Ireland Secretary to the Lord Gray Lord Deputy thereof and though that his office under his Lord was lucrative yet got he no estate but saith my Author Pâ—…culiari Poetis fato semper cum paupertate conflictatus est So that it fared little better with him then with William Xilander the German a most excellent Linguist Antiquary Philosopher and Mathematician who was so poor that as Thuanus saith he was thought fami non famae scribere Returning into England he was robb'd by the Rebels of that little he had and dying for grief in great want Anno 1598. was honorably buried nigh Chaucer in Westminster where this Distick concludeth his Epitaph on hâ—…s monument Anglica te vivo vixit plausitque poesis Nunc moritura timet te moriente mori Whilst hâ—…iu didst live liv'd English poetry Which fears now thou art dead that she shall die Nor must we forget that the expence of his funeral and monument was defrayed at the sole charge of Robert first of that name Earl of Essex JOHN STOW son of Thomas Stow who died Anno 1559. grand-child to Thomas Stow who died 1526. both Citizens of London and buried in Saint Michaels in Cornhill was born in this City bred at learning no higher then a good Gramar-scholar yet he became a painful faithful and the result of both useful Historian Here to prevent mistake by the homonymie of names I request the Reader to take special notice of three brace of English writers 1. Sir Thomas commonly with the addition of De la More who lived under and wrote the life of King Edward the second 1. John Leland bred in Oxford the most exquisite Grammarian of his age who flourished Anno 1428. 1. John Stow a Benedictine Monke of Norwich Anno 1440. who wrote various Collections much cited by Caius in his history of Cambridge 2. Sir Thomas More the witty and learned Chancellour of England 2. John Leland bred in Cambridge the most eminent Antiquary under K. Henry the eight 2. John Stow this Londiner and Historian I confess I have heard him often accused that as learned Guicciardine is charged for telling magnarum rerum minutias he reporteth res in se minutas toys and trifles being such a Smell-feast that he cannot pass by Guild-hall but his pen must tast of the good chear therein However this must be indulged to his education so hard it is for a Citizen to write an History but that the fur of his gown will be felt therein Sure I am our most elegant Historians who have wrote since his time Sir Francis Bacon Master Camden c. though throwing away the basket have taken the fruit though not mentioning his name making use of his endeavors Let me adde of John Stow that however he kept tune he kept time very well no Author being more accurate in the notation thereof Besides his Chronicle of England he hath a large Survey of London and I believe no City in Christendome Rome alone excepted hath so great a volume extant thereof Plato was used to say that many good laws were made but still one was wanting viz. a law to put all those good laws in execution Thus the Citizens of London have erected many fair monuments to perpetuate their memories but still there wanted a monument to continue the memory of their monuments subject by time and otherwise to be defaced which at last by John Stow was industriously performed He died in the eightieth year of his age April 5. 1605. and is buried at the upper end of the North-Isle of the Quire of Saint Andrews-Undershaft His Chronicle since continued by another whose additions are the lively embleme of the times he writeth of as far short of Master Stow in goodness as our age is of the integrity and charity of those which went before it GILES FLETCHER was born in this City son to Giles Fletcher Dr. in law and Embassadour into Russia of whom formerly in Kent From Westminster-school he was chosen first Scholar then Fellow of Trinity colledge in Cambridge One equally beloved of the Muses and the Graces having a sanctified wit witness his worthy Poem intituled Christs Victory made by him being but Bachelour of Arts discovering the Piety of a Saint and Divinity of a Doctor He afterward applied himself to School-Divinity cross to the grain of his Genius as some conceive and attained to good skill therein When he preached at Saint Maries his
whence I conclude him an obscure person and this Lady rather married then match'd such the distance betwixt their degrees Probably this Cecily consulting her comfort more then her credit did it of design so to be beneath the jealousie of King Henry the seventh She left no children and the date of her death is uncertain CHARLES the second son to King Charles the first of Blessed Memory and Mary youngest daughter to Henry the fourth King of France was born at Saint James's May 29. 1630. Great was the general rejoycing thereat The University of Oxford congratulated his birth with printed Poems and it was taken ill though causelesly by some that Cambridge did not do the like for then the Wits of the University were sadly distracted into several Counties by reason of the plague therein And I remember Cambridge modestly excused herself in their Poem made the year after at the birth of the Lady Mary and it will not be amiss to insert and translate one Tetrastick made by my worthy friend Quod fuit ad nixus Academia muta priores 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Carolus aegra fuit Spe veniente novâ si tunc tacuisset amores Non tantùm morbo digna sed illa mori Prince Charles forgive me that my silent quill Joy'd not thy birth alas sore sick was I. New hopes now come had I been silent still I should deserve both to be sick and die His birth was accompanied with two notable accidents in the heavens The star Venus was visible all day long as sometime it falls out neer her greatest Elongation And two dayâ—… after there was an Ecclipse of the Sun about eleven digits observed by the greatest Mathematicians And now Reader give me leave to be silent my self and present thee with the expressions of a most ingenious Gentleman To behold this babe heaven it self seemed to open one Eye more then ordinary Such Asterisks and Celelestial Signatures affixt to times so remarkable as this usually are 〈◊〉 prophetically hinting and pointing out somewhat future of eminent contingency Yea such have since been the occurrences in the life of this pious Prince that rightly considered they will appear not onely eminent above the common standard of actions but full of miracle and amazement He was on the 1. of January 1650. at Scoon Crowned King of Scotland Being before invaded by an Army under the conduct of O. C. Soon after quitting that Kingdome he marched for England and on the 3. of September 1651. nigh Worcester was fought and lost the day though he to use my Authors expression acted beyond the expectation of his friends and to the great applause of his very enemies Narrow search was made after his person yea a thousand pounds a bait his politique enemies made sure would have been bit at promised to such who should betray him Yet God whose Angels â—… were his Life-guard miraculously preserving him out of the hands of his enemies he safely passed over into France to the Queen his mother During his continuance beyond the Seas great were the proffers tendered unto him if forsaking the Protestant Religion but alas as soon might the impotent waves remove the most sturdy rocks as they once unfix him such his constancy whom neither the frowns of his afflictions nor smiles of secular advantages could make to warp from his first principles At length his piety and Patience were rewarded by God with a happy restitution to his undoubted Dominions and he after a long and tedious exile landed at Dover May 25. 1660. to the great joy of his three Kingdomes A Prince whose vertues I should injure if endeavouring their contraction within so narrow a scantling And yet I cannot pass over that wherein he so much resembleth the King of Heaven whose Vicegerent he is I mean his merciful disposition doing good unto those who spightfully used and persecuted him And now it is my hearty prayer that God who appeared so wonderful in his Restauration would continue still Gracious to us in his Preservation confounding the plots of his adversaries that upon him and his posterity the Crown may flourish forever MARY eldest daughter of King Charles the first and Queen Mary was born at Saint James's November 4. 1631. When her royal father out of his paternal love began to cast about for a fitting confort this Peerless Princess though tender in years rich in piety and wisdome made it her humble request she might be match'd as well in her religion as affection which happened answerable to her desires For not long after a marriage treated betwixt her and Count William of Nassau eldest son to Henry Prince of Orange was concluded and this royal pair wedded accordingly May 2. 1641. The February following having at Dover taken her leave of the King her Father the last time she ever saw him on earth she embarked for and within few days landed in Holland His Majesties affairs in England daily growing worse and worse at length the sad news of his horrid murder arrived at her eares this was seconded with the loss of her husband the Prince of Orange who deceased October 8. 1650. Yet such her signal patience that she underwent the weight of so many heavy afflictions sufficient to break the back of a mean Christian with a courage far surpassing the weakness of her sex But amidst these her calamities God was pleased to remember mercy blessing her the November ensuing with a hopeful son The complexion of the times being altered in England she came over to congratulate the happiness of her Brother his miraculous restitution When behold sickness arrests this royal Princess no bail being found by physick to defer the execution of her death which happened 1660. On the 31. of December following she was honourably though privately interred at Westminster in the Chappel of King Henry the seventh and no eye so dry but willingly afforded a tear to bemoan the loss of so worthy a Princess JAMES third son of King Charles and Queen Mary October was 13. 1633. born at Saint James's He was commonly stiled Duke of York though not solemnly created until January 27. 1643. At the rendition of Oxford he was taken Prisoner and some two years after through the assistance of one Colonel Bamfield made his escape landing safe in Holland Hence he went for France where he so prudently deported himself that he soon gained the favour and honour of the whole Court Yea such was this Princes valour and prowess that before arrived at the age of one and twenty years he was made Leiutenant General of the Forces of the King of France a thing which sounds highly to the esteem of this Duke being a sufficient argument as well of his Policy as Magnanimity seeing a wise head is equally required warily to consult as a stout heart resolutely to act for the due performance of that office This trust he discharged to the admiration of all atchieving so many Noble and Heroick exploits which rendred
five parts which were used in Cathedrals many years after his death the certain date whereof I cannot attain JOHN DOULAND was as I have most cause to believe born in this City sure I am he had his longest life and best livelyhood therein being Servant in the Chappel to Queen Elizabeth and King James He was the rarest Musician that his Age did behold Having travailed beyond the Seas and compounded English with Forreign Skill in that faculty it is questionable whether he excell'd in Vocal or Instrumental Musick A chearful Person he was passing his days in lawful meriment truly answering the Anagram made of him JOHANNES DOULANDUS ANNOS LUDENDO HAUSI Christian the fourth K. of Denmark coming over into England requested him of K. James who unwillingly willing parted with him Many years he lived as I am credibly informed in the Danish Court in great favour and plenty generally imployed to entertain such English Persons of quality as came thither I cannot confidently avouch his death at Denmark but believe it more probably then their assertion who report him returned and dying in England about the year 1615. Benefactors to the Publique JAMES PALMER B. D. was born in this City and bred in Magdalen-colledge in Cambridge The Company of Carpenters in London gave him an exhibition towards his maintenance there or lent it him rather For since his bounty hath repaid them the Principle with plentiful consideration He was afterwards for many years the constant Preacher of Saint Bridgets in Fleetstreet the onely Church preferment he enjoyed I perceive thus craft and cruelty may raise a quick and great but plain frugallity especially if vivacious will advance a better and surer estate Though sequestred in these times what he had formerly gained in his place he hath since bestowed in building and endowing over against the New Chappel in Westminster a fair Almes-house for twelve poor people besides this many and great have his gifts been to Ministers poor widdows and wonder not Reader if they be unknown to me which were unknown to his own left-hand all this he did in his life time O it giveth the best light when one carrieth his Lant-horn before him The surest way that ones Will shall be performed is to see it performed Yea I may say that his poor people in his Almes-house are in some sort provided for not onely from head to foot but also from body to soul he constantly preaching to them twice a week He dyed Anno 1659. Memorable Persons EDMOND DOUBLEDAY Esquire was of a tall and proper person and lived in this City Nor had this large case a little jewell this long body a lazy soul whose activity and valour was adequate to his strength and greatness whereof he gave this eminent testimony When Sir Thomas Knevet was sent November 4. 1605. by King James to search the Cellar beneath the Parliament-house with very few for the more privacy to attend him he took Master Doubleday with him Here they found Gui Faux with his dark-lant-horn in the dead of the night providing for the death of many the next morning He was newly come out of the Divels Closset so I may fitly term the inward room where the powder lay and the train was to be laid into the outward part of the Cellar Faux beginning to bussel Master Doubleday instantly ordered him at his pleasure up with his heels and there with the Traytor lay the Treason flat along the floor by Gods goodness detected defeated Faux vowed and though he was a false Traitor herein I do believe him that had he been in the inner room he would have blown up himself and all the company therein Thus it is pleasant musick to hear disarmed malice threaten when it cannot strike Master Doubleday lived many years after deservedly loved and respected and died about the year of our Lord 1618. The Farewell Seeing the well-being yea being of this City consisteth in the Kings Court and in the Courts of Justice I congratulate the happy return of the one praying for the long continuance of the other yea may the Lawyers in Westminster-hall never again plead in their Armour as they did in the time of Wyats rebellion but in their peaceable Gowns and Legal Formalities Nor doth this Wish onely extend to the Weal of Westminster but all England For no such dearth in a Land as what is caused from a drought of Justice therein For if judgement do not run down as Waters and righteousness as a mighty Stream Injustice like an Ocean will drown all with its inundation NOR FOLK hath the German Ocean on the North and East thereof Suffolk severed by the river Waveny on the South-side Cambridge-shire parted by the river Ouse and a small part of Lincoln shire on the West it extendeth full 50. miles from East to West but from North to South stretcheth not above thirty miles All England may be carved out of Norfolk represented therein not onely to the kind but degree thereof Here are Fens and Heaths and Light and Deep and Sand and Clay-ground and Meddows and Pasture and Arable and Woody and generally woodless land so gratefull is this Shire with the variety thereof Thus as in many men though perchance this or that part may justly be cavelled at yet all put together complete a proper person so Norfolk collectively taken hath a sufficient result of pleasure and profit that being supplied in one part which is defective in another This County hath the most Churches of any in England six hundred and sixty and though the poorest Livings yet by some occult quallity of their good husbandry and Gods blessing thereon the richest Clergy-men Nor can there be given a greater demonstration of the wealth and populousness of this County than that in the late Act for an Assessment upon England at the rate of sixty thousand pounds by the Month for three Months Norfolk with the City of Norwich is rated at three thousand two hundred sixty six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence the highest proportion of any Shire in England And though Norfolk hath little cause to please and less to pride it self in so dear purchased pre-eminence yet it cannot but account it a credit to see it self not undervalued Natural Commodities It shareth plentifully in all English Commodities and aboundeth with the best and most Rabbits These are an Army of natural Pioners whence men have learned cuniculos agere the Art of undermining They thrive best on barren ground and grow fattest in the hardest frosts Their flesh is fine and wholesome If Scotish-men tax our language as improper and smile at our wing of a Rabbit let us laugh at their shoulder of a Capon Their skins were formerly much used when furs were in fashion till of late our Citizens of Romans are turned Grecians have laid down their grave gowns and took up their light cloaks men generally disliking all habits though emblemes of honour if also badges of age Their rich
so the Cathedral dedicated unto him in this County challengeth the Precedency of all in England for a Majestick Western Front of Columel-work But alas This hath lately felt the misfortune of other Fabricks in this kind Yea as in a Gangrean one member is cut off to preserve the rest so I understand the Cloysters of this Cathedral were lately plucked down to repair the Body thereof and am heartily glad God in his mercy hath restored the onely remedy I mean its lands for the Cure thereof As for Civil Structures Holdenby-house lately carried away the credit built by Sir Christopher Hatton and accounted by him the last Monument of his Youth If Florence be said to be a City so fine that it ought not to be shown but on Holy-days Holdenby was a House which should not have been shown but on Christmas-day But alas Holedenby-house is taken away being the Embleme of human happiness both in the beauty and brittleness short flourishing and soon fading thereof Thus one demolishing Hammer can undoe more in a day then ten edifying Axes can advance in a Month. Next is Burleigh-house nigh Stamford built by William Lord Cecil Who so seriously compareth the late state of Holdenby and Burleigh will dispute wâ—…th himself whither the Offices of the Lord Chancellour or Treasurer of England be of greater Revenues seeing Holedenby may be said to show the Seal and Burleigh the Purse in their respective magnificence proportionable to the power and plenty of the two great Officers that built them Withorpe must not be forgot the least of Noble Houses and best of Lodges seeming but a dim reflection of Burleigh whence it is but a Mile distant It was built by Thomas Cecil Earl of Exeter to retire to as he pleasantly said out of the dust whilst his great House of Burleigh was a sweeping Castle Ashby the Noble Mansion of the Earl of Northampton succeeds most beautifull before a casual fire deformed part thereof But seeing fire is so furious a plunderer that it giveth whatsoever it taketh not away the condition of this house is not so much to be condoled as congratulated Besides these there be many others no County in England yeilding more Noble men no Noble men in England having fairer habitations And although the Freestone whereof they be built keepeth not so long the white innocence as Brick doth the blushing modesty thereof yet when the fresh luster is abated the full state thereof doth still remain The Wonders There is within the Demeasnes of Boughton the Barony of the Right Honorable Edward Lord Mountague a Spring which is conceived to turn wood into stone The truth is this the coldness of the water incrustateth wood or what else falleth into it on every side with a stony matter yet so that it doth not transubstantiate wood into stone For the wood remaineth entire within untill at last wholy consumed which giveth occasion to the former erroneous relation The like is reported of a Well in Candia with the same mistake that Quicquid incidit lapidescit But I have seen in Sidney-colledge in Cambridge a Skull brought thence which was candied over with stone within and without yet so as the bone remained intire in the middle as by a casual breach thereof did appear This Skull was sent for by King Charles and whilst I lived in the house by him safely again returned to the Colledge being a Prince as desirous in such cases to preserve others propriety as to satisfie his own curiosity Medicinal Waters Wellingborough-well Some may conceive it called Wellingborough from a sovereign Well therein anciently known afterwards obstructed with obscurity and re-discovered in our days But Master Camden doth marr their mart avouching the ancient name thereof Wedlingburough However thirty years since a water herein grew very famous insomuch that Queen Mary lay many weeks thereat What benefit her Majesty received by the Spring here I know not this I know that the Spring received benefit from her Majesty and the Town got credit and profit thereby But it seems all waters of this kind have though far from the Sea their ebbing and flowing I mean in esteem It was then full tide with Wellingburough-well which ever since hath abated and now I believe is at low water in its reputation Proverbs The Mayor of Northampton opens Oysters with his Dagger This Town being 80 miles from the Sea Sea fish may be presumed stale therein Yet have I heard that Oysters put up with care and carried in the cool were weekly brought fresh and good to Althrope the house of the Lord Spencer at equal distance Sweeter no doubt then those Oysters commonly carried over the Alpes well nigh 300. miles from Venice to Viena and there â—…eputed far fetch'd and deer bought daintes to great persons though sometimes very valiant their savour Nor is this a wonder seeing Plinny tell us that our English Oysters did Romanis culinis servire Serve the Kitchings of Rome Pickled as some suppose though others believe them preserved by an ingenious contrivance Epicures bear their brains in there bowels and some conceive them carried in their shells But seeing one of their own Emperours gave for his Motto Bonus odor hâ—…stis melior Civis occisi Good is the smell of an Enemy but better the smell of a Citizen of Rome killed I say unto such a Roman-Nose stinking may be better then sweet Oysters and to their Palates we 'll leave them He that must eat a buttered Fagot let him go to Northampton Because it is the dearest Town in England for fuel where no Coles can come by Water and little Wood doth grow on Land Camden saith of this County in general that it is Silvis nisi in ulteriori citeriori parte minùs laetus And if so when he wrote fifty years since surely it is less wooddy in our age What reformation of late hath been made in mens judgments and manners I know not sure I am that deformation hath been great in trees and timber who verily believe that the clearing of many dark places where formerly plenty of wood is all the new light this age produced Pity it is no better provision is made for the preservation of woods whose want will be soonest for our fire but will be saddest for our water when our naval walls shall be decayed Say not that want of wood will put posterity on witty inventions for that supply seeing he is neither pious nor prudent parent who spends his patrimony on design that the industry and ingenuity of his son may be quick'ned thereby Princes ELIZABETH daughter of Sir Richard Woodevill by the Lady Jaquet his wife formerly the relict of John Duke of Bedford was born at Grafton Honour in this County in proof whereof many stronge presumptions may be produced Sure I am if this Grafton saw her not first a child it beheld her first a Queen when married to King Edward the fourth This Elizabeth was widow to Sir John Grey who
Comment on a Netling Text and so taxed the pride and lasiness of all Friers that his book was burnt by command from the Pope and the Writer thereof had been burnt also had he noâ—… seasonably secured himself by his flight beâ—…ond the Seas This mindeth me of a passage of a Frier who burned a book of Peter Ramus after the death of the Author thereof and then and there used this Distick in some imitation of Ovid Parve nec invideo sine me Liber ibis in Ignem Hei mihi quod Domino non licet ire tuo Small Book thy fate I envy not Without me feel the Flame O had it been thy Masters lot He might have felt the Same But our Pateshull was out of retch in Bohemia betwixt which and England a great intercourse in that age since King Richard the second had married a Sister of Wincelaus King of Bohemia We behold him as an advancer of Wicklivisme in that Country for which John Husse and Hierome of Prague were afterwards condemned He flourished in the year of our Lord 1390. Since the Reformation ROBERT CROWLEY was born in this County bred Master of Arts in Magdalen-colledge in Oxford It happ'ned that one Miles Hogheard whom Pitz maketh a learned Writer and intituleth him Virum doctum ptum in fide Catholica mirè zelosum though in Master Fox it appeareth by his own confession that he was but an Hosier in London wrote railing books against the poor Protestants Our Crowley took him to task and confuted him in several Treatises Under Queen Mary he fled over to Frankford and returning under Queen Elizabeth was made Vicar of Saint Giles without Cripple gate London where he lieth buried under a fair plated stone in the â—…hancel He died on the 18. of June 1588. EUSEBIUS PAGET was born at â—…ranford in this County â—…as Master Ephraim Paget â—…is aged son late Minister of St. Edmond the King Lombard street hath informed me He was admitted at twelve years of age into Oxford where when a boy he brake his right-arme with carrying the Pax though surely some casualty beside so light a weight concurred thereunto He was commonly called the golden Sophister and yet he proved no leaden Graduate Many years he was a painful Minister in London and was Author of that excellent book called the History of the Bible and Caâ—…echisme of The fourty short questions which hath done as much good to nn book learn'd people as any of that kind The certain date of his death I cannot attain JOHN PRESTON D. D. was born at Heyford in this County bred in Queens-colledge in Cambridge whose life interwoven much with Church and State matters is so well written by his Pupill Master Thomas Ball that all additions thereunto may seem carrying of Coals to New-castle However seeing he who carrieth Char-coal a different kind from the native Coal of that place may meet with a Chapman there on the same confidence a word or two of this Doctor Before he Commenced Master of Arts he was so far from Eminency as but a little above Contempt Thus the most generous Wines are the most muddy before they are fine Soon after his skill in Phylosophy rendred him to the general respect of the University He was the greatest Pupil-monger in England in mans memory having sixteen Fellow-Commoners most heirs to fair estates admitted in one year in Queens-colledge and provided convenient accommodations for them As VVilliam the Popular Earl of Nassaw was said to have won a Subject from the King of Spain to his own party every time he put off his Hat so was it commonly said in the Colledge that every time when Master Preston plucked off his Hat to Doctor Davenant the Colledge-Master he gained a Chamber or Study for one of his Pupils Amongst whom one Chambers a Londoner who dyed very young was very eminent for his learning Being chosen Master of Emanuell-colledge he removed thither with most of his Pupills and I remember when it was much admired where all these should find lodgings in that Colledge which was so full already Oh! said one Master Preston will carry Chambers along with him The Party called Puritan then being most active in Parliament and Doctor Preston most powerful with them the Duke rather used then loved him to work that Party to his complyance Some thought the Doctor was unwilling to do it and no wonder he effected not what he affected not others thought he was unable that Party being so diffusive and then in their designs as since in their practices divided However whilst any hope none but Doctor Preston with the Duke set by and extolled and afterwards set by and neglected when found useless to the intended purpose In a word my worthy friend fitly calls him the Court Coment blazing for a time and faiding soon afterwards He was a perfect Politician and used lapwing like to flutter most on that place which was furthest from his Eggs exact at the concealing of his intentions with that simulation which some make to lye in the Marches of things lawful and unlawfull He had perfect command of his passion with the Caspian Sea never ebbing nor flowing and would not alter his compos'd pase for all the whipping which Satyrical wâ—…ts bestowed upon him He never had wife or cure of souls and leaving a plentifull no invidious estate died Anno Domini 1628. July 20. Pass we now from one who was all judgement and gravity to an other place and time making the connexion who was all wit and festivity viz. THOMAS RANDOLPH born at Houghton in this County was first bred in Westminster-school then Fellow in Trinity-colledge in Cambridge The Muses may seem not onely to have smiled but to have been tickled at his nativity such the festivity of his Poems of all sorts But my declining age being superannuated to meddle with such ludicrous matters configneth the censure and commendation of his Poems as also of his Country-man Peter Haulsted born at Oundle in this County to younger Pens for whom it is most proper Master Randolph died Anno Dom. 163. NICHOLAS ESTWICK B. D. was born at Harowden the Baronny of the Lord Vaux in this County A solid Protestant to counterpoise Kellison a violent Papist and native of the same Village He was bred Fellow of Christs-colledge in Cambridge being there beheld as a pious and judicious Divine always cheerful without the least levity and grave without any morosness He was afterwards presented by the Lord Montague Parson of Warton where he lived a painful Preacher 40. years less then a Deacon in his humility and more then an Arch bishop in his own contentment Hence he was unwillingly willing preferred by the Earl of Rutland to Botsworth in Lecestershire where he had hardly inned one harvest before like a ripe Sheaf he was brought into the Barn of the grave Thus though young Trees are meliorated with transplanting yet old ones seldome live and never flourish
after their removal Let his works witness the rest of his worth some of whose books are published others prepared for the Press and I wish them a happy nativity for the publique good Coming to take his Farewell of his friends he Preached on the Fore-noon of the Lords-day sickned on the After-noon and was buried with his wife in the same grave in Warton Chancell the week following 1657. Romish Exile Writers MATTHEW KELLISON was born in this County at Harrowden his father being a Servant and Tenant of the Lord Vaux in whose family his infancy did suck in the Romish Perswasions He afterwards went beyond the Seas and was very much in motion 1. He first fixed himself at the Colledge of Rhemes in France 2. Thence removed to the English-colledge at Rome where he studied in Phylosophy and Divinity 3. Returned to Rhemes where he took the Degree of Doctor 4. Removed to Doway where for many years he read School-Divinity 5. Re-returned to Rhemes where he became Kings Professor and Rector of the University So much for the travails of his Feet now for the labours of his Hands the pains of his Pen those of his own opinion can give the best account of them He wrote a book to King James which his Majesty never saw and another against Sutliff with many more and was living 1611. Benefactors to the Publick HENRY CHICHELY Son of Thomas and Agnes Chichely was born at Higham-Ferrers in this County bred in Oxford and designed by Wickham himself yet surviving to be one of the Fellows of New-colledge he afterwards became Chaplain to R. Metford Bishop of Sarum who made him Arch-Deacon which he exchanged for the Chancelours place of that Cathedral This Bishop at his death made him his chief Executor and bequeathed him a fair gilt Cup for a Legacy By King Henry the fourth he was sent to the Council of Risa 1409. and by the Popes own hands was Consecrated Bishop of Saint Davids at Vienna and thence was advanced Arch-bishop of Canterbury by King Henry the fifth During his reign in the Parliament at Leicester a shrude thrust was made at all Abbies not with a Râ—…bated point but with sharps indeed which this Arch-bishop as a skilful Fencer fairly put by though others will say he guarded that blow with a silver Buckler the Clergy paying to the King vast sums of money to maintain his Wars in France and so made a forreign diversion for such active spirits which otherwise in all probability would have Antidated the dissolution of Monasteries Under King Henry the sixth he sat sure in his See though often affronted by the rich Cardinal Beaufort of Winchester whom he discreetly thanked for many injuries A Cardinals Cap was proferred to and declined by him some putting the refusal on the account of his humility others of his pride loath to be junior to the foresaid Cardinal others of his policy unwilling to be more engaged to the Court of Rome Indeed he was thorough-paced in all Spiritual Popery which concerned religion which made him so cruel against the VVicklevites but in secular Popery as I may term it touching the interest of Princes he did not so much as rack and was a zealous assertor of the English Liberties against Romish Usurpation Great his zeal to promote learning as appears by three Colledges erected and endowed at his expence and procurement 1. One with an Hospital for the poor at Higham-Ferrers the place of his Nativity 2. Saint Bernards in Oxford afterwards altered and bettered by Sir Thomas VVhite into Saint Johns colledge 3. All-souls in Oxford the fruitful Nursery of so many Learned Men. He continued in his Arch-bishoprick longer then any of his Predecessors for 500. years full 29. years and died April 12. 1443. WILLIAM LAXTON Son to John Laxton of Oundle in this County was bred a Grocer in London where he so prospered by his painful endeavours that he was chosen Lord Mayor Anno Domini 1544. He founded a fair School and Almeshouse at Oundle in this County with convenient maintenance well maintained at this day by the Worshipful Company of Grocers and hath been to my knowledge the Nursery of many Scholars most eminent in the University These Latine Verses are inscribed in the Front of the building Oundellae natus Londini parta labore Laxtonus posuit Senibus pâ—…erisque levamen At Oundle born what he did get In London with great pain Laxton to young and old hath set A comfort to remain He died Anno Domini 1556. the 29. of July and lyeth buried under a fair Tombe in the Chancel of Saint Antonies London Since the Reformation NICHOLAS LATHAM was born at Brigtock in this County and afterwards became Minister of Al-saints Church in Barn-wells This man had no considerable Estate left him from his father nor eminent addition of wealth from his friends nor injoyed any Dignity in the Church of England nor ever held more then one moderate Benefice And yet by Gods blessing on his vivacious frugality he got so great an Estate that he told a friend he could have left his son had he had one land to the value of five hundred pounds by the year But though he had no Issue yet making the Poor his heirs he left the far greatest part of his Estate to pious uses Founded several small Schools with salaries in Country Villages and Founded a most beautiful Almes-house at Oundale in this County and I could wish that all houses of the like nature were but continued and ordered so well as this is according to the Will of the Founder He died Anno Domini 1620. and lyeth buried in the Chancel of his own Parish having lived 72. years EDWARD MONTAGUE Baron of Boughton and eldest son to Sir Edward Montague Knight was born in this County a Pious Peaceable and Hospitable Patriot It was not the least part of his outward happiness that having no male issue by his first wife and marrying when past fifty years of age he lived to see his son inriched with hopeful children I behold him as bountiful Barsillai superannuated for courtly pleasures and therefore preferring to live honorably in his own Country wherein he was generally beloved so that popularity may be said to have affected him who never affected it For in evidence of the vanity thereof he used to say Do the common sort of people nineteen courtesies together and yet you may loose their love if you do but go over the stile before them He was a bountiful Benefactor to Sidney-colledge and builded and endowed an Almes-house at VVeekley in this County To have no bands in their death is an outward favour many VVicked have many Godly men want amongst whom this good Lord who dyed in restraint in the Savoy on the account of his Loyalty to his Sovereign Let none grudge him the injoying of his judgement a purchase he so dearly bought and truly paid for whose death happened in the year of our Lord
in this kind then ours but they are the more Ingenious and Industrious School-master of the lesson of publick advantage making every place in their Province to have access unto every place therein by such cheap transportation NORTHUMBERLAND hath the Bishoprick of Durham seperated by the river Dervent running into Tine on the South Cumberland on the South-west the German Ocean on the East Scotland on the North and West parted with the river Tweed Cheviot-hills and elsewhere whilst our Hostility with the Scots Mutuo Metu with Mutual Fear now turned into Mutual Faith both Nations knowing their own and neither willing to invade the bounds of others It is somewhat of a Pyramidal Form whose Basis objected to the South extendeth above 40. whilst the shaft thereof narrowing Northward ascendeth to full 50. miles Nature hath not been over indulgent to this County in the fruitfulness thereof yet it is daily improved since to use the Prophets expression they have beat their Swords into Plough-shares and Spears into Pruning-hooks and surely such Plough-shares make the best furrows and such comfortable Pruning-hooks cut with the best edge It must not be forgotten how before the uniting of England and Scotland there lay much wast ground in the Northern part of this County formerly disavowed at lestwise not owned by any onely to avoid the charges of the common defence But afterwards so great sudden and good the alteration that the Borders becoming safe and peaceable many Gentlemen inhabiting therabouts finding the antient wast ground to become very fruitful in the fourth of King James put in their claimes and began to contend in Law about their Bounds challenging their Hereditary right therein The Buildings One cannot rationally expect fair Fabricks here where the Vicinity of the Scots made them to build not for state but strength Here it was the rule with ancient Architects what was firm that was fair so that it may be said of the Houses of the Gentry herein Quot mantiones tot munitiones as either being all Castles or Castle-like able to resist though no solemn siege a tumultary incursion Before we come to the Worthies of this County be it premised that Northumland is generally taken in a double acception First as a County whose bounds we have fore-assigned and secondly as a Kingdome extending from Humber to Edenborough-frith and so taking in the Southern-part of Scotland Here then we have an oportunity to cry quits with Demster the Scotish Historian and to repair our selves of him for challenging so many English-men to be Scots Should we bring all them in for Northumberlanders which were born betwixt Berwick and Edenborough whose nativities we may in the rigor of right justifie to be English if born therein whilst the tract of ground was subjected to the Saxon Heptarchy But because we will have an unquestionable title to what we claim to be ours we are content to confine our selves to Northumberland in the County-Capacity thereof Proverbs To carry Coals to Newcastle That is to do what was done before or to busy ones self in a needless imployment Parallel to the Latine Aquam mari infundere Sidera Coelo addere Noctuas Athenas To carry Owles to Athenes which place was plentifully furnished before with fowle of that feather From Berwick to Dover three hundred miles over That is from one end of the land to the other Semnable the Scripture expression From Dan to Ber-sheba Such the Latine Proverbs A carceribus ad metam A capite ad calcem when one chargeth thorough an employment from the beginning to the end thereof To take Hectors cloake That is to deceive a friend who confideth on his faithfulness and hereon a story doth depend When Thomas Piercy Earl of Northumberland Anno 1569. was routed in the Rebellion which he had raised against Queen Elizabeth he hid himself in the house of one Hector Armestrong of Harlaw in this County having confidence he would be true to him who notwithstanding for money betrayed him to the Regent of Scotland It was observed that Hector being before a rich man fell poor of a sudden and so hated generally that he never durst go abroad insomuch that the Proverb to take Hectors cloak is continued to this day among them when they would express a man that betrayeth his friend who trusted him We will not lose a Scot. That is we will lose nothing how inconsiderable soever which we can save or recover Parallel to the Scripture expression VVe will not leave an Hooffe behind us This Proverb began in the English borders when during the enmity betwixt the two Nations they had little esteem of and less affection for a Scotch-man and is now happily superseded since the Union of England and Scotland into Great Britain A Scottish mist may wet an English-man to the skin That is small mischeifs in the beginning if not seasonably prevented may prove very dangerous This limitary Proverb hath its original in these parts where mists may be said to have their fountain North but fall South of Tweed arising in Scotland and driven by the winds into England where they often prove a sweeping and soaking rain Sure I am our late Civil War began there which since hath wet many an English-man in his own hearts blood and whether at last the Scotch have escaped dry that is best known to themselves A Scotish-man and a Newcastle-grind-stone travail all the world over The Scots Gentry especially when young leave their Native land hard their hap if losers by their exchange and travail into foreign parts most for maintenance many for accomplishment Now no ship sets safe to sea without a Carpenter no Carpenter is able without his tools no tools useful without a Grind-stone no Grind-stone so good as those of Newcastle Some indeed are fetch'd from Spain but of so soft a grit that they are not fit for many purposes Hence it is that these Grind-stones though mostly in motion may be said fixed to ships as most necessary thereunto If they come they come not And If they come not they come We must fetch an Oedipus from this County to expound this riddling Proverb customary in the wars betwixt the Crowns of England and Scotland For the cattle of people living hereabout turn'd into the common pasture did by instinct and custome return home at night except violently intercepted by the Free-booters and Borderers who living between two Kingdomes owned no King whilst Vivitur ex rapto Catch who catch may Hence many in these parts who had an herd of kine in the morning had not a cow-tail at night and alternatly proved rich and poor by the trade aforesaid If therefore these Borderers came their cattle came not if they came not their cattle surely returned Now although a sprigg of these Borderers hath lately been revived disguised under the new name of Moss-Troopers yet the union of the two Kingdomes hath for the main knock'd this Proverb out of joynt never I hope
Lavale m. ut prius  7 Edw. Talbot ar ut prius  8 Joh. de Lavale ar ut prius  9 Rad. Grey mil. ut prius  10 Claud. Foster ar ut prius  11 Rad. Seldy mil.   12 Joh. Clavering m.  Quarterly Or and Gul. a Bend S. 13 Hen. Anderson m.   14 Will. Selby mil.   15 Rob. Brandlinge   16 Tho. Midleton ar   17 Joh. Fenwicke m. ut prius  18 Mat. Foster ar ut prius  19 Rad. de Lavale m. ut prius  20 Will. Muschampe ut prius  21 Joh. Clavering m. ut prius  22 Joh. de Lavale m.  Ermine 2 Bars Vert. CAR. REG.   Anno   1 Cutb. Heron ar   2 Fran. Bradling ar   3   4 Tho. Swinborn m. duobus Tumid   5   6 Rob. Bradling ar   7 Nic. Towneley ar   8 Nich. Tempest m. ut prius  9 Tho. Midleton ar   10   11 Will. Carniby m.   12 Will. WitheringtoÌ„  Quarterlr Arg. Gul. a Bend S. 13 Rob. Bewick ar   14   15   16 Ingratum bello   17 debemus Inane   18   19   20   21   22   The Reader is sensible of more blanks and interruptions in these Sheriffs then in any other Catalogue whereof this reason may be assigned because the Sheriffs of Northumberland never accompted to the Kings Majesty in his Exchequer from which accompts the most perfect List is made until the third year of King Edward the sixth Yea they assumed such liberty to themselves as to siese the issues and profits of their Baylwick and convert them to their own use with all other Debts Fines and Amercements within the said County and all Emoluments accrueing from Alienations Intrusions Wards Marriages Reliefs and the like This though it tended much unto the detriment and loss of the Crown was for many years connived at chiefly to incourage the Sheriffs in their dangerous office who in effect lay constant Perdues against the neighbouring Scots But after that their care was much lessened by setling the Lord-Wardens of the Marches it was inacted in the third of King Edward the â—…ixth that the Sheriffs of Northumberland should be accountable for their office as others in the Exchequer Queen ELIZABETH 19 FRANCIS RUSSELL Mil. He was son to Francis and father to Edward Earl of Bedford He married Julian daughter whom Mills calls Elionar and makes her co-heir to Sir John Foster aforesaid which occasioned his residence in these parts It happened on a Truce-day June 27. 1585. that the English meant to treat whilst the Scots meant to fight being three thousand to three hundred Now though it was agreed betwixt them to use the words of the Limitary-laws that they should not hurt each other with word deed or look they fell on the English in which tumult this worthy Knight lost his life And because seldome single funerals happen in great Families his Father died the same week in the South of England The Farewell Being now to take our leave of Northnmberland I remember what I have read of Sir Robert Umfrevile a native of this County how he was commonly called Robin Mendmarket so much he improved trading hereabouts in the reign of King Henry the fonrth It will not be amiss to wish this County more Mendmarkets that the general complaint of the decay of traffick may be removed I confess the Knight bettered the Markets by selling therein the plentiful plunder which he had taken from the Scots but I desire it done by some ingenious and not injurious design that none may have just cause to complain NOTTINGHAM-SHIRE NOTTINGHAM-SHIRE hath York-shire on the North Lincolnshire on the East Leicester-shire on the South and Derby shire on the West Nor can I call to mind any County besides this bounded with four and but four Shires and those towards the four cardinal points without any parcels of other Shires interposed The pleasantness thereof may be collected from the plenty of Noble-men many having their Barronies and more their Residence therein It is divided into two parts the Sand and the Clay which so supply the defects one of another that what either Half doth afford the whole County doth enjoy Natural Commodities Glycyrize or Liquoris England affordeth hereof the best in the world for some uses this County the first and best in England Great the use thereof in Physick it being found very pectoral and soveraign for several diseases A stick hereof is commonly the spoon prescribed to Patients to use in any Lingences or Loaches If as Aeneas his men were forced to eat their own Trenchers these chance to eat their Spoons their danger is none at all But Liquoris formerly dear and scarce is now grown cheap and common because growing in all Counties Thus plenty will make the most precious thing a drug as silver was nothing respected in Jerusalem in the dayes of Solomon Wonders We must not forget how two Ayres of Lannards were lately found in Sherwood Forrest These Hawks are the natives of Saxony and it seems being old and past flying at the game were let or did set themselves loose where meeting with Lanerets enlarged on the same terms they did breed together and proved as excellent in their kind when managed as any which were brought out of Germany Proverbs Many talk of Robin Hood who never shot in his Bow That is many discourse or prate rather of matters wherein they have no skill or experience This Proverb is now extended all over England though originally of Nottingham-shire extraction where Robin Hood did principally reside in Sherwood Forrest He was an Arch robber and withall an excellent Archer though surely the Poet gives a twang to the loose of his Arrow making him shoot one a cloth-yard long at full forty score mark for compass never higher than the breast and within less than a foot of the mark But herein our Author hath verified the Proverb talking at large of Robin Hood in whose Bow he never shot One may justly wonder that this Archer did not at last hit the mark I mean come to the Gallows for his many robberies but see more hereof in the Memorable Persons of this County To sâ—…ll Robin Hoods penny-worths It is spoken of things sold under half their value or if you will half sold half given Robin Hood came lightly by his ware and lightly parted therewith so that he could afford the length of his Bow for a yard of Velvet Whithersoever he came he carried a Fair along with him Chapmen crowding to buy his stollen Commodities But seeing The receiver is as bad as the thief and such buyers are as bad as receivers the cheap Penny-worths of plundered goods may in fine prove dear enough to
their Consciences As wise as a man of Gotham It passeth publickly for the Periphrasis of a Fool and an hundred Fopperies are feigned and fathered on the Town-folk of Gotham a Village in this County Here two things may be observed 1. Men in all Ages have made themselves merry with singling out some place and fixing the staple of stupidity and stolidity therein Thus the Phrygians were accounted the fools of all Asia and the Anvils of other mens wits to work upon serò sapiunt Phryges Phryx nisi ictus non sapit In Grecia take a single City and then Abdera in Thracia carried it away for Dull-heads Abderitanae pectora plebis habes But for a whole Countrey commend us to the Boetians for Block-heads and Baeotium ingcnium is notoriously known In Germany auris Baetava is taken by the Poet for a dull Ear which hath no skill in witty conceits 2. These places thus generally sleighted and scoffed at afforded some as witty and wise persons as the world produced Thus Plutarch himself saith Erasmus was a Baeotian and Erasmus a Batavian or Hollander and therefore his own copy-hold being touch'd in the Proverb he expoundeth auris Batava a grave and severe Ear. But to return to Gotham it doth breed as wise people as any which causelesly laugh at their simplicity Sure I am Mr. William de Gotham fifth Master of Michael-house in Cambridge Anno 1336. and twice Chancellor of the University was as grave a Governor as that Age did afford And Gotham is a goodly large Lordship where the ancient and right well respected Family of St. Andrews have flourished some hundreds of years till of late the name is extinct in and lands divided betwixt Female co-heirs matched unto very worshipful persons The little Smith of Nottingham Who doth the work that no man can England hath afforded many rare workmen in this kind whereof he may seem an Apprentice to Vulcan and inferiour onely to his Master in making the invisible Net who made a Lock and Key with a Chain of ten links which a Flea could draw But what this little Smith and great workman was and when he lived I know not and have cause to suspect that this of Nottingham is a periphrasis of Nemo Ou T is or a person who never was And the Proverb by way of Sarcasm is applied to such who being conceited of their own skill pretend to the atchieving of impossibilities Martyrs I meet with none within this County either before or in the Marian dayes imputing the later to the mild temper of Nicholas Heath Archbishop of York and Diocesan thereof Yet find we a Martyr though not in this yet of this County as a Native thereof here following THOMAS CRANMER was born at Arse lackton Speed calls it Astackton in this County and being bred in Jesus college in Cambridge became Archbishop of Canterbury and at last after some intermediate failings valiantly suffered for the Truth at Oxford An. Dom. 1556. March 22. Two hungry meals saith our English Proverb makes the third a gluttâ—…n This may also be inverted Two glutton meals require the third an hungry one fasting being then necessary lest Nature be surcharged If the Reader hath formerly perused Mr. Fox his Acts and Monuments and my Ecclesiastical History Cranmer his story is so largely related in those two books there is danger of his surfet if I should not now be short and sparing therein onely one memorable passage omitted by Mr. Fox and that 's a wonder I must here insert out of an excellent Author After his whole body was reduced into ashes his heart was found intire and untouch'd Which is justly alledged as an argument of his cordial integrity to the truth though fear too much and too often prevailed on his outward actions So that what the Holy Spirit recorâ—…eth of King Asa was true of him Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his dayes though good man he was guilty of many and great imperfections The like to this of Cranmer is reported of Zuinglius Quòd cadavere flammis ab hostibus tradito cor exuri non potuerit His foes making this a sign of the obduration and hardness of his heart his friends of the sincerity thereof And thus saith my moderate and learned Author Adeo turbat is odio aut amore animis ut fit in religionis dissensionibus pro se quisque omnia superstitiosè interpretatur Their minds being so disturbed with hatred or love as it comes to pass in dissentions of Religion every one interprets all things superstitiously for his own advantage The best is our Religion wherein it differs from Romish Errors hath better demonstration for the truth thereof than those Topical and Osier accidents lyable to be bent on either side according to mens fancies and affections Prelates since the Reformation WILLIAM CHAPPELL was born at Lexington in this County and bred a Fellow in Christs college in Cambridge where he was remarkable for the strictness of his Conversation No one Tutor in our memory bred more and better Pupils so exact his care in their Education He was a most subtile Disputant equally excellent with the Sword and the Shield to reply or answer He was chosen Provost of Trinity college in Dublin and afterwards Bishop of Corke and Rosse Frighted with the Rebellion in Ireland he came over into England where he rather exchanged than eased his condition such the wofulness of our civil wars He dyed Anno 1649. and parted his Estate almost equally betwixt his own Kindred and distressed Ministers his charity not impairing his duty and his duty not prejudicing his charity Capital Judges Sir JOHN MARKHAM descended of an ancient Family was born at Markham in this County and brought up in the Municipal Law till being Knighted by Edward the Fourth he was made Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in the place of Sir John Fortescue These I may call the two Chief Justices of the Chief Justices for their signal integrity For though the one of them favoured the House of Lancaster the other of York in the Titles to the â—…rown both of them favoured the House of Justice in matters betwixt party and party It happened that Sir Thomas Cooke late Lord Mayor of London one of vast wealth was cast before hand at the Court where the Lord Rivers and the rest of the Queens Kindred had pre-devoured his Estate and was onely for Formalities sake to be condemned in Guild-hall by extraordinary Commissioners in Oyer and Terminer whereof Sir John Markham was not the meanest The Fact for which he was arraigned was for lending money to Margaret the Wife of King Henry the Sixth this he denyed and the single testimony of one Haukins tortured on the Rack was produced against him Judge Markham directed the jury as it was his place and no partiality in point of Law to do to find it onely Misprision of treason whereby Sir Thomas
seeing wives in that Age were not forbidden the Clergy though possibly his father turned Abbot of Winchester in his old age his son purchasing that preferment for him But this Herbert bought a better for himself giving nineteen hundred pounds to King William Rufus for the Bishoprick of Thetford Hence the Verse was made Filius est Praesul pater Abbas Simon uterque Meaning that both of them were guilty of Simony a fashionable sin in the reign of that King preferring more for their gifts than their endowments Reader pardon a digression I am confident there is one and but one sin frequent in the former Age both with Clergy and Laity which in our dayes our Land is not guilty of and may find many compurgators of her innocence therein I mean the sin of Simony seeing none in our Age will give any thing for Church livings partly because the persons presented thereunto have no assurance to keep them partly because of the uncertainty of Tithes for their maintenance But whether this our Age hath not added in saâ—…rilege what it wanteth in simony is above my place to discuss and more above my power to decide To return to our Herbert whose character hitherto cannot entitle him to any room in our Catalogue of Worthies but know that afterwards he went to Rome no such clean washâ—…ing as in the water of Tyber and thence returned as free from fault as when first born Thus cleansed from the Leprosie of simony he came back into England removed his Bishoprick from Thetford to Norwich laid the first stone and in effect finished the fair Cathedral therein and built five beautiful Parish Churches He dyed Anno Dom. 1119. See more of his character on just occasion in Suffolk under the title of Prelates OWEN OGLETHORP was saith my Author born of good parentage and I conjecture a Native of this County finding Owen Oglethorp his Kinsmâ—…n twice High-Sheriff thereof in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth He was President of Magaalen College in Oxford Dean of Windsor and at last made Bishop of Carlile by Queen Mary A good natur'd man and when single by himself very plyable to please Queen Elizabeth whom he crowned Queen which the rest of his Order refused to do but when in conjunction with other Popish Bishops such principles of stubbornness were distilled into him that it cost him his 〈◊〉 However an Author tells me that the Queen had still a favour for him intending his restitution either to his own or a better Bishoprick upon the promise of his general conformity had he not dyed suddenly of an Apoplexy 1559. Since the Reformation JOHN UNDERHILL was born in the City of Oxford sirst bred in New college and afterwards Rector of Lincoln-college in that University Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth and esteemed a good Preacher in those dayes The Bishoprick of Oxford had now been void 22. years and some suspected that so long a Vacancy would at last terminate in a Nullity and that See be dissolved The â—…ause that Church was so long a widow was the want of a competent Estate to prefer her At last the Queen 1589. appointed John underhill Bishop thereof An ingenious Pen but whose accusative suggestions are not alwayes to be believed hinteth a suspition as if he gave part of the 〈◊〉 portion this Church had to a great Courtier which made the match betwixt them He dyed 1592. and lyeth buried in the middle Quire of Christs Church JOHN BANCROFT was born at Ascot in this County and was advanced by Archbishop Bancroft his Uncle from a Student in Christ-church to be Master of universitycollege in Oxford Here it cost him much pains and expence in a long suit to recover and settle the ancient Lands of that Foundation Afterwards he was made Bishop of Oxford and during his sitting in that See he renewed no Leases but let them run out for the advantage of his successor He obtained the Royalty of Shot-over for and annexed the Vicariâ—…ge of Cudsden to his Bishoprick where he built a fair Palace and a Chappel expending on both about three thousand five hundred pounds Cujus munificentiae said the Oxford Orator of him to the King at Woodstock debemus quod incerti Laris Mitra surrexerit è pulvere in Palatium But now by a retrograde motion that fair building è Palatio recidit in pulverem being burnt down to the ground in the late wars but for what advantage as I do not know so I list not to enquire This Bishop dyed Anno Dom. 1640. States = Men. Sir DUDLEY CARLETON Knight was born in this County bred a Student in Christ-church in Oxford He afterwards was related as a Secretary to Sir Ralph Winwood Ambassador in the Low-Countries when K. James resigned the cautionary Towns to the States Here he added so great experience to his former learning that afterwards our King imployed him for twenty years together Ambassador in Venice Savoy and the united Provinces Anne Garrard his Lady co-heir to George Garrard Esq accompanying him in all his travels as is expressed in her Epitaph in Westminster Abby He was by King Charles the first created Baron of Imbercourt in Surrey and afterwards Viscount Dorchester marying for his second wife the daughter of Sir Henry Glenham the Relict of Paul Viscount Banning who survived him He succeeded the Lord Conway when preferred President of the Council in the Secretary-ship of State being sworn at White-hall Decemb. 14. 1628. He dyed without issue Anno Dom. 163. assigning his burial as appears on her Tomb with his first wife which no doubt was performed accordingly Souldiers Of the NORRISES and the KNOWLLS No County in England can present such a brace of Families contemporaries with such a bunch of Brethren on either for eminent atchievements So great their states and stomachs that they often justled together and no wonder if Oxford-shire wanted room for them when all England could not hold them together Let them be considered root and branch first severally then conjunctively Father Mother Father Mother Henry Lord Norris descended from the Viscounts Lovels whose father dyed in a manner Martyr for the Queens mother executed about the businesse of Anna Bullen Margaret one of the daughters and heirs of John Lord Williams of Tame Keeper of Queen Elizabeth whilest in restraint under her sister and civil unto her in those dangerous dayes Sir Francis Knowlls Treasurer to the Q. houshold Knight of the Garter who had been an exile in Germany under Q. Mary deriving himself from Sir Robert Knowlls that conquering Commander in France Cary sister to Henry Lord Hunsdon and Cousin-german to Queen Elizabeth having Mary Bullen for her mother Thus Queen Elizabeth beheld them both not onely with gracious but grateful eyes Ricot in this County was their chief habitation Thus the Husband was allied to the Queen in conscience Fellow-sufferers for the Protestant cause the Wife in kinred Grays in this County was their chief dwelling Their
his Paynes and Piety Prelates ROBERT of SHREWSBURY was in the reign of King John but I dare not say by him preferred Bishop of Bangor 1197. Afterwards the King waging war with Leoline Prince of Wales took this Bishop prisoner in his own Cathedral Church and enjoyned him to pay Three hundred Hawkes for his ransome Say not that it was improper that a Man of Peace should be ransomed with Birds of Prey seeing the Bishop had learnt the Rule Redime te captum quam queas minimo Besides 300 Hawkes will not seem so inconsiderable a matter to him that hath read how in the reign of King Charles an English Noble Man taken prisoner at the I le Ree was ransomed for a Brace of Grey-hounds Such who admire where the Bishop on a sudden should furnish himself with a stock of such Fowl will abate of their wonder when they remember that about this time the Men of Norway whence we have the best Hawkes under Magnus their General had possessed themselves of the Neighbouring Iland of Anglesea Besides he might stock himself out of the Aryes of Pembrook-shire where Perigrines did plentifully breed How ever this Bishop appeareth something humerous by one passage in his Will wherein he gave order that his Body should be buried in the middle of the Market place of Shrewsbury Impute it not to his profaness and contempt of Consecrated ground but either to his humility accounting himself unworthy thereof or to his prudential fore-sight that the fury of Souldiers during the intestine War betwixt the English and Welsh would fall fiercest on Churches as the fairest market and men preferring their profit before their Piety would preserve their Market-places though their Churches were destroyed He died Anno 1215. ROBERT BURNEL was son to Robert and brother to Hugh Lord Burnel whose Prime Seat was at Acton-Burnel-Castle in this County He was by King Edwà rd the First preferred Bishop of Bath and VVellâ—…s and first Treasurer then Chancelor of England He was well vers'd in the Welsh affairs and much us'd in managing them and that he might the more effectually attend such employment caused the Court of Chancery to be kept at Bristol He got great Wealth wherewith he enriched his kindred and is supposed to have rebuilt the decayed Castle of Acton-Burnel on his own expence And to decline envy for his secular structures left to his heirs he built for his Successors the beautiful Hall at VVells the biggest room of any Bishops Palace in England pluck'd down by Sir John Gabos afterwards executed for Treason in the reign of King Edward the Sixth English and Welsh affaires being setled to the Kings contentment he employed Bishop Burnel in some businesse about Scotland in the Marches whereof he died Anno Domini 1292. and his body solemnly brought many miles was buried in his own Cathedral WALTER de WENLOCK Abbot of Westminster was no doubt so named from his Nativity in a Market Town in this County I admire much that Matthew of VVestminster writeth him VVilliam de VVenlock and that a Monk of VVestminster should though not miscall mis-name the Abbot thereof He was Treasurer of England to King Edward the First betwixt the twelfth and fourteenth year of his reign and enjoyed his Abbots Office six and twenty years lacking six dayes He died on Christmasse day at his Mannor of Periford in Glocester-shire 1307 and was buried in his Church at VVestminster besides the High-Altar before the Presbutery without the South dore of King Edward's Shrine where Abbas VValterus non fuit Ausâ—…erus is part of his Epitaph RALPH of SHREWSBURY born therein was in the third of King Edward the Third preferred Bishop of Bath VVells Being consecrated without the Popes privity a daring adventure in those dayes he paid a large sum to expiate his presumption therein He was a good Benefactor to his Cathedral and bestowed on them a Chest Port-cullis-like barred with iron able to hold out a siege in the view of such as beheld it But what is of proof against Sacriledge Some Thieves with what Engines unknown in the reign of Queen Elizabeth forced it open But this Bishop is most memorable for erecting and endowing a spacious structure for the Vicars-Choral of his Cathedral to inhabit together which in an old Picture is thus presented The Vicars humble petition on their knees Per vicos positi villae Pater alme rogamus Ut simul uniti te dante domos maneamus To us dispers'd i th' streets good Father give A place where we together all my live The gracious answer of the Bishop sitting Vestra petunt merita quod sint concessa petita Ut maneatis ita loca fecimus haec stabilita Your merits crave that what you crave be yeilded That so you may remain this place we 've builded Having now made such a Palace as I may term it for his Vicars he was in observation of a proportionable distance necessitated in some sort to enlarge the Bishops Seat which he beautified and fortified Castle-wise with great expence He much ingratiated himself with the Country people by disforasting Mendip Beef better pleasing the Husbandmans palate than Venison He sate Bishop thirty four years and dying August 14. 1363. lieth buried in his Cathedral where his Statue is done to the life Vivos viventes vultus vividissimè exprimens saith my Authour ROBERT MASCAL Was bred saith Bale in and born saith Pitz positively at Ludlow in this County where he became a Carmelite Afterwards he studied in Oxford and became so famous for his Learning and Piety that he was made Confessor to Henry the Fourth and Counsellor to Henry the Fifth Promoted by the former Bishop of Hereford He was one of the Three English Prelates which went to and one of the Two which returned alive from the Council of Constance He died 1416 being buried in the Church of White-Friers in London to which he had been an eminent Benefactor RICHARD TALBOTE was born of Honourable Parentage in this County as Brother unto John Talbote the first Earl of Shrewsbury Being bred in Learning he was consecrated Arch-bishop of Dublin in Ireland 1417. He sate two and thirty years in that See being all that time a Privy Counsellor to King Henry the Fifth and Sixth twice Chief Justice and once Chancelor of Ireland He deserved well of his Church founding six petty Canons and as many Choristers therein yea generally of all Ireland writing a Book against James Earl of Ormond wherein he detected his abuses during his Lieutenancy in Ireland He died August the 15. 1449. and lieth buried in Saint Patricks in Dublin under a marble stone whereon an Eâ—…itaph is written not worthy the inserting The said Richard was unanimously chosen Arch-bishop of Armagh a higher place but refused to remove wisely preferring Safety above either Honor or Profit GEORGE DAY was born in this County and successively Scholer Fellow and
of their utter failing Medicinal Waters BATH is well known all England and Europe over far more useful and wholesome though not so stately as Dioclesian his Bath in Rome the fairest amongst 856 in that City made onely for pleasure and delicacy beautified with an infinite of Marble Pillars not for support but ostentation so that Salmuth saith fourteen thousand men were imployed for some years in building thereof Our Baths-waters consist of 1 Bitumen which hath the predominancy sovereign to discuss glutinate dissolve open obstructions c. 2 Niter which dilateth the Bitumen making the solution the better and water the clearer It clenseth and purgeth both by Stool and â—…rine cutteth and dissolveth gross Humours 3 Sulphur In regard whereof they dry resolve mollifie attract and are good for Uterine effects proceeding from cold and windy Humours But how thesâ—… Waters come by their great heat is rather controverted than concluded amongst the Learned Some impute it to Wind or Airy Exhalations included in the Bowels of the Earth which by their agitation and attrition upon Rocks and narrow passages gather Heat and impart it to the Waters Others ascribe it to the heat of the Sun whose Beams piercing through the Pores of the Earth warm the Waters and therefore anciently were called Aquae Solis both because dedicated to and made by the Sun Others attribute it to quick-lime which we see doth readily heat any water cast upon it and kindleth any combustible substance put therein Others referre it to a Subterranean fire kindled in the bowels of the Earth and actually burning upon Sulpher and Bitumen Others impute the heat which is not destructive but generative joyned with moisture to the fermentation of several minerals It is the safer to relate all than reject any of these Opinions each having both their Opposers and Defenders They are used also inwardly in Broths Beere Juleps c. with good effect And although some mislike it because they will not mixe Medicaments with Aliments yet such practice beginneth to prevail The worst I wish these waters is that they were handsomly roofed over as the most eminent Bathes in Christendome are which besides that it would procure great benefit to weak persons would gain more respect hither in Winter Time or more early in the Spring or more late in the Fall The Right Honourable James Earle of Marleborough undertook to cover the Crosse-Bath at his own charge and may others follow his resolution it being but fit that where God hath freely given the Jewel Men bestow a Case upon it Proverbs VVhere should I be bore else thâ—…n in Tonton Deane This is a parcel of Ground round about Tonton very pleasant and populous as conteining many Parishes and so fruitful to use their Phrase with the Zun and Zoil alone that it needs no manuring at all The Peasantry therein are as Rude as Rich and so highly conceited of their good Country God make them worthy thereof that they conceive it a disparagement to be born in any other place as if it were eminently all England The Beggars of Bath Many in that place some natives there others repairing thither from all parts of the Land the Poor for Alms the pained for ease Whither should Fowl flock in an hard frost but to the Barn-door Here all the two seasons the general confluence of Gentry Indeed Laws are daily made to restrain Beggars and daily broke by the connivence of those who make them it being impossible when the hungry Belly barks and bowels sound to keep the tongue silent And although Oil of whip be the proper plaister for the cramp of lazinesse yet some pity is due to impotent persons In a word seeing there is the Lazars-Bath in this City I doubt not but many a good Lazarus the true object of Charity may beg therein Saints DUNSTAN was born in the Town of Glassenbury in this County He afterwards was Abbot thereof Bishop of London VVorcester Archbishop of Canterbury and at last for his promoting of Monkery reputed a Saint I can add nothing to but must subtract something from what I have written of him in my Church History True it is he was the first Abbot of England not in time but in honour Glassenbury being the Proto-Abbaty then and many years after till Pope Adrian advanced St. Albans above it But whereas it followeth in my Book That the title of Abbot till his time was unknown in England I admire by what casualty it crept in confess it a foul mistake and desire the Reader with his Pen to delete it More I have not to say of Dunstan save that he died Anno Dom. 988. and his skill in Smithery was so great that the Gold-smiths in London are incorporated by the Name of the Company of St. Dunstans Martyrs JONH HOOPER was born in this County bred first in Oxford then beyond the Seas A great Scholar and Linguist but suffering under the notion of a proud man onely in their Judgments who were un-acquainted with him Returning in the reign of king Edward the Sixth he was elected Bishop of Glocester but for a time scrupuled the acceptance thereof on a double account First because he refused to take an Oath tendered unto him This Oath I conceived to have been the Oath of Canonical obedience but since owing my information to my Worthy Friend the Learned Dr. John Hacket I confess it the Oath of Supremacy which Hooper refused not out of lack of Loyalty but store of Conscience For the Oath of Supremacy as then modelled was more than the Oath of Supremacy injoyning the receivers thereof conformity to the Kings commands in what alterations soever he should afterwards make in Religion Which implicite and unlimited obedience Learned Casuists allow onely due to God himself Besides the Oath concluded with So help me God and all his Angels and Saints So that Hooper had just cause to scruple the Oath and was the occasion of the future reforming whilst the King dispensed with his present taking thereof The second thing he boggled at was the wearing of some Episcopal habiliments but at last it seemeth consented thereunto and was Consecrated Bishop of Glocester His adversaries will say that the refusing of One is the way to get Two Bishopricks seeing afterward he held Worcester in Commendam therewith But be it known that as our Hooper had double dignity he had treble diligence painfully preaching Gods Word piously living as he preach'd and patiently dying as he liv'd being martyred at Glocester Anno 155 He was the onely native of this Shire suffering for the testimony of the Truth and on this account we may honour the memory of Gilbert Bourn Bishop of Bath and Wells in the reign of Queen Mary who persecuted no Protestants in his Diocese to Death seeing it cannot be proved that one Lush was ever burnt though by him condemned I mention Bishop Bourn here the more willingly because I can no where recover the certainty
of his Nativity Prelates JOCELINE of WELLS Bishop Godwin was convinced by such evidences as he had seen that he was both born and bred in Welles becomming afterwards the Bishop thereof Now whereas his Predecessors stiled themselves Bishops of Glaston especially for some few years after their first Consecration He first fixed on the Title of Bath and Wells and transmitted it to all his Successors In his time the Monks of Glassenbury being very desirous to be only subjected to their own Abbot purchased their Exemption by parting with four fair Mannors to the See of Wells This Joceline after his return from his five years Exile in France banished with Archbishop Langton on the same account of obstinacy against King John layed out himself wholely on the beautifying and enriching of his Cathedral He erected some new Prebends and to the use of the Chapter appropiated many Churches increasing the revenues of the Dignities so fitter called than Profits so mean then their maintenance and to the Episcopal See he gave three Mannors of great value He with Hugo Bishop of Lincoln was the joynt Founder of the Hospital of St. Johns in Wells and on his own sole cost built two very fair Chappels one at VVokey the other at VVells But the Church of VVells was the Master-piece of his Works not so much repaired as rebuilt by him and well might he therein have been afforded a quiet repose And yet some have plundered his Tomb of his Effigies in Brasse being so rudely rent off it hath not only defaced his Monument but even hazarded the ruin thereof He sat Bishop which was very remarkable more than thirty seven years God to Square his great undertakings giving him a long life to his large heart and died 1242. FULKE of SAMFORD was born in this County but in which of the Samfords there being four of that name therein none elsewhere in England is hard and not necessary to decide He was first preferred Treasurer of St. Pauls in London and then by Papal Bull declared Archbishop of Dublin 1256. Mr. Paris calleth him Fulk Basset by mistake He died in his Mannor of Finglas 1271 and was buried in the Church of St. Patrick in the Chappel of St. Maries which likely was erected by him JOHN of SAMFORD It is pity to part Brethren He was first Dean of St. Patrick in Dublin preferred probably by his Brother and for a time Eschaetor of all Ireland Indeed the Office doth male audire sound ill to ignorant eares partly because the vicinity thereof to a worse word Esquire and Squire are known to be the same partly because some by abusing that Office have rendred it odious to people which in it self was necessary and honourable For the name Eschaetor cometh from the French word Escheoir which signifieth to Happen or Fall out and He by his place is to search into any Profit accrewing to the Crown by casualty by the condemnation of Malefactors Persons dying without an Heir or leaving him in minority c. and whereas every County in England hath an Eschaetor This John of Samford being Eschaetor General of Ireland his place must be presumed of great Trust from the King and Profit to himself He was Canonically chosen and by King Edward the first confirmed Archbishop of Dublin 1284 mediately succeeding John de Derlington interposed his Brothet Fulke therein and I cannot readily remember the like Instance in any other See For a time he was Chief Justice of Ireland and thence was sent with Anthâ—… Bishop of Durham Embasâ—…adour to the Emperour whence returning he died at London 1294. and had his Body carried over into Ireland an Argument that he was well respected and buried in the Tomb of his Brother in the Church of St. Patricks THOMAS BECKINTON was born at Beckinton in this County bred in New-Colledge Doctor in the Laws and Dean of the Arches till by King Henry the Sixth he was advanced Bishop of Bath and VVelles A good 1 States-man having written a Judicious Book to prove the Kings of England to the Crown of France notwithstanding the pretenced Salique-Law 2 Church-man in the then notion of the Word professing in his Will that he had spent six thousand Marks in the repairing and adorning of his Palaces 3 Towns-man besides a Legacy given to the Town where he was born he built at VVells where he lived a fair Conduit in the Market-place 4 Subject alwayes loyal to King Henry the Sixth even in the lowest condition 5 Kinsman plentifully providing for his alliance with Leases without the least prejudice to the Church 6 Master bequeathing five pounds a piece to his chief five Marks a piece to his meaner Servants and fourty shillings a piece to his Boys 7 Man He gave for his Rebus in allusion to his Name a burning Beacon to which he answered in his Nature being a burning and a shining light Witnesse his many benefactions to VVells Church and the Vicars therein VVinchester New Merton but chiefly Lincoln-Colledg in Oxford being little lesse than a second Founder thereof A Beacon we know is so called from Beckoning that is making signs or giving notice to the next Beacon This bright Beacon doth nod and give hints of bounty to future ages but it is to befeared it will be long before his signs will be observed understood imitated Nor was it the least part of his prudence that being obnoxious to King Edward the Fourth in his life time he procured the confirmation of his Will under the broad Seal of England and died January the 14 1464. RICHARD FITZ-JAMES Doctor at Law was born at Redlinch in this County of right ancient and worshipful extraction bred at Merton Colledge in Oxford whereof he became Warden much meriting of that place wherein he built most beautiful Lodgings expending also much on the repair of St. Maries in Oxford He was preferred Bishop first of Rochester next of Chichester last of London He was esteemed an excellent Scholar and wrote some Books which if they ever appeared in publick never descended to posterity He cannot be excused for being over busie with fire and faggot in persecuting the poor Servants of God in his Diocess He deceased Anno 1512. lyeth buried in his Cathedral having contributed much to the adorning thereof in a Chappel-like Tomb built it seems of Timber which was burnt down when the steeple of St. Pauls was set on fire Anno 1561. This Bishop was brother to Judg Fitz-James Lord Chief Justice who with their mutual support much strengthned one another in Church and State To the Reader I cannot recover any native of this County who was a Bishop since the Reformation save only John Hooper of whom formerly in the Catalogue of Martyrs States-men Sir AMIAS POULET Son to Sir Hugh grand-Child to Sir Amias Poulet who put Cardinal Wolsey then but a Schoolmaster in the Stockes was born at Hinton Saint George in this County He was Chancelor
behold Bristol as the staple-place thereof where alone it was anciently made For though there be a place in London nigh Cheapside called Sopers-lane it was never so named from that Commodity made therein as some have supposed but from Alen le Soper the long since owner thereof Yea it is not above an hundred and fifty years by the confession of the Chronicler of that City since the first Sope was boyled in London Before which time the Land was generally supplyed with Castile from Spain and Graysope from Bristol Yea after that London medled with the making thereof Bristol-sope notwithstanding the portage was found much the cheaper Great is the necessity thereof seeing without Sope our bodies would be no better than dirt before they are turned into dust men whilst living becoming noisome to themselves and others Nor lesse its antiquity For although our modern Sope made of Pot-ashes and other ingredients was unknown to the Ancient yet had they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something which effectually supplied the place thereof making their Woollen clear their Linnen-Cloth cleanly Christ is compared by the Prophet to Fullers sope in Hebrew Borith which word Arias Montanus in his Interlineary Bible reteineth untranslated but in his Comment following the example of St. Hierom on the place rendreth it Herba fullonum expounding it to be Saponaria in English Sopeworth Indeed both Dodoneus and Gerardus writeth thereof This plant hath no use in Physick Yet seeing nature made nothing in vain Sopeworth cannot justly be charged as useless because purging though not the body the Clothes of a man and conducing much to the neatnesse thereof The Buildings Ratcliffe Church in this City clearly carrieth away the credit from all Parish-Churches in England It was founded by Cannings first a Merchant who afterwards bâ—…ame a Priest and most stately the ascent thereunto by many stairs which at last plentifully recompenceth their pains who climb them up with the magnificent structure both without and within If any demand the cause why this Church was not rather made the See of a Bishop then St. Augustins in this City much inferiour thereunto such may receive this reason thereof That this though an intire stately structure was not conveniently accomodated like St. Augustins formerly a great Monastery with publick Buildings about it for the Palace of a Bishop and the Reception of the Dean and Chapter However as the Town of Hague in Holland would never be Walled about as accounting it more credit to be the Biggest of Villages in Europe than but a Lesser City so Ratcliffe-Church esteemeth it a greater grace to lead the Van of all Parochial than to follow in the Rear after many Cathedral Churches in England Medicinal Waters St. Vincents Well lying West of the City under St. Vincents Rock and hard by the River is sovereign for Sores and Sicknesses to be washt in or drunk of to be either outwardly or inwardly applyed Undoubtedly the Water thereof runneth through some Mineral of Ironâ—… as appeareth by the rusty ferruginous taste thereof which it retaineth though boiled never so much Experience proveth that Beer brewed thereof is wholesome against the Spleen and Dr. Samuel VVard afflicted with that malady and living in Sidney-Colledge was prescribed the constant drinking thereof though it was costly to bring it thorough the Severn and narrow seas to Lin and thence by the River to Cambridge But men in pain must not grudge to send far to purchase their ease and thank God if they can so procure it Proverbs Bristol Milk Though as many Elephants are fed as Cows grased within the Walls of this City yet great plenty of this Metaphorical Milk whereby Xeres or Sherry-Sack is intended Some will have it called Milk because whereas Nurses give new-born Babes in some places Pap in other water and sugar such Wine is the first moisture given Infants in this City It is also the entertainment of course which the courteous Bristolians present to all Strangers when first visiting their City Martyrs The moderation of John Holyman Bipshop of this City is much to be commended who in the reign of Queen Mary did not persecute any in his Diocess And yet we find Rich. Sharpe Tho. Benion and Tho. Hale martyred in this City whose Bloud the Inquisitor thereof will visit on the account of Dalbye the cruel Chancellour of this Dio cess Prelates RALPH of BRISTOL born in this City was bred as I have cause to conceive in the Neighbouring Covent of Glassenbury Going over into Ireland first he became Treasurer of St. Patricks in Dublin then Episcopus Darensis Bishop of Kildare He wrote the life of Lawrence Arch-Bishop of Dublin and granted saith my Author certain Indulgences to the Abbey of Glassenbury in England probably in testimony of his Gratitude for his Education therein He died Anno Dom. 1232. Since the Reformation TOBIAS MATTHEW D. D. was born in this City bred first in St. Johns then in Christ-Church in Oxford and by many mediate Preferments became Bishop of Durham and at last York But it will be safest for my Pen now to fast for fear for a Surfeit which formerly feasted so freely on the Character of this Worthy Prelate who died 1628. Sea-men No City in England London alone excepted hath in so short a Time bred more Brave and Bold Sea-men advantaged for Western Voyages by its situation They have not only been Merchants but Adventurers possessed with a Publick Spirit for the General Good Aiming not so much to return wealthier as wiser not alwayes to en-rich themselves as inform Posterity by their Discoveries Of these some have been but meerly casual when going to fish for Cod they have found a Country or some eminent Bay River or Hauen of importance unknown before Others were intentional wherein they have sown experiments with great pains cost and danger that ensuing Ages may freely reap benefit thereof Amongst these Sea-men we must not forget HUGH ELIOT a Merchant of this City who was in his Age the prime Pilot of our Nation He first with the assistance of Mr. Thorn his fellow-Citizen found out New-found-land Anno 1527. This may be called Old-found-land as senior in the cognizance of the English to Virginia and all our other Plantations Had this Discovery been as fortunate in publick Encouragement as private Industry probably before this time we had enjoyed the Kernel of those Countries whose Shell only we now possess It 's to me unknown when Eliot deceased Writers THOMAS NORTON was born in this City and if any doubt thereof let them but consult the Initial syllables in the six first and the first line in the seventh chapter of his Ordinal which put together compose Thomas Norton of Briseto A parfet Master you may him trow Thus his modesty embraced a middle way betwixt concealing and revealing his name proper for so great a Professor in Chymistry as he was that his very name must from his
Book be mysteriously extracted He was scarce twenty eight years of Age when in fourty dayes believe him for he saith so of himself he learn'd the perfection of Chymistry taught as it seems by Mr. George Ripley But what saith the Poet Non minor est virtus quà m quaerere parta tueri The spight is he complaineth that a Merchants wife of Bristol stole from him the Elixir of life Some suspect her to have been the wife of William Cannings of whom before contemporary with Norton who started up to so great and sudden Wealth the clearest evidence of their conjecture The admirers of this Art are justly impatient to hear this their great Patron traduced by the Pen of J. Pits and others by whom he is termed Nugarum opifex in frivola scientia and that he undid himself and all his friends who trusted him with their money living and dying very poor about the year 1477. JOHN SPINE I had concluded him born at Spine in Bark-shire nigh Newbury but for these diswasives 1. He lived lately under Richard the Third when the Clergy began to leave off their Local Surnames and in conformity to the Laity to be called from their Fathers 2 My Author peremptorily saith he was born in this City I suspect the name to be Latinized Spineus by Pits and that in plain English he was called Thorn an ancient Name I assure you in this City However he was a Carmelite and a Doctor of Divinity in Oxford leaving some Books of his making to posterity He died and was buried in Oxford Anno Dom. 1484. JOHN of MILVERTON Having lost the Fore I must play an After-game rather than wholely omit such a Man of Remark The matter is not much if he be who was lost in Somerset-shire where indeed he was born at Milverton be found in Bristol where he first fixed himself a Frier Carmelite Hence he went to Oxford Paris and at last had his abode in London He was Provincial General of his Order thorough England Scotland and Ireland so that his Jurisdiction was larger than King Edward the Fourth's under whom he flourished He was a great Anti-Wiâ—…liffist and Champion of his Order both by his writing and preaching He laboured to make all believe that Christ himself was a Carmelite Professor of wilful Poverty and his high commending of the Poverty of Friers tacitly condemned the Pomp of the Prelates Hereupon the Bishop of London being his Diocesan caâ—…t him into the Jaile from whom he appealed to Paul the II. and coming to Rome he was for three years â—…ept close in the Prison of St. Angelo It made his durance the more easie having the company of Platina the famous Papal Biographist the Neb of whose Pen had been too long in writing dangerous Truth At last he procured his Cause to be referred to Seven Cardinals who ordered his enlargement Returning home into England he lived in London in good repute I find him nominated Bishop of St. Davids but how he came to miss it is to me unknown Perchance he would not bite at the bait but whether because too fat to cloy the stomack of his mortified Soul or too lean to please the appetite of his concealed covetousness no man can decide He died and was buried in London 1486. WILLIAM GROCINE was born in this City and bred in Winchester-School Where he when a Youth became a most excellent Poet. Take one instance of many A pleasant Maid probably his Mistris however she must be so understood in a LoveFrolick pelted him with a Snow-ball whereon he extempore made this Latin Tetrastick Me nive candenti petiit mea Julia rebar Igne carere nivem nix tamen ignis erat Sola potes nostras extinguere Julia flammas Non nive non glacie sed potes ignes pari A snow-ball white at me did Julia throw Who would suppose it Fire was in that snow Julia alone can quench my hot desire But not with snow or Ice but equal fire He afterwards went over into Italy where he had Demetrius Calchondiles and Politian for his Masters And returning into England was Publick Professor of the Greek Tongue in Oxford There needs no more to be added to his Honour save that Erasmus in his Epistles often owns him pro Patrono suo praeceptore He died Anno 1520. Romish Exile Writers JOHN FOWLER was born in Bristol bred a Printer by his occupation but so Learned a Man that if the Character given him by one of his own perswasion be true he may pass for our English Robert or Henry Stephens being skilful in Latin and Greek and a good Poet Oratour and Divine He wrote an abridgment of Thomas his Summes the Translation of Osorius into English c. Being a zealous Papist he could not comport with the Reformation but conveyed himself and his Presse over to Antwerp where he was signally serviceable to the Catholick Cause in printing their Pamphlets which were sent over and sold in England He died at Namurch 1579. and lies there buried in the Church of St. John the Evangelist Benefactors to the Publick ROBERT THORN was born in this City as his ensuing Epitaph doth evidence I see it matters not what the Name be so the Nature be good I confesse Thorns came in by mans curse and our Saviour saith Do men gather Grapes of Thorns But this our Thorn God send us many Copices of them was a Blessing to our Nation and Wine and Oil may be said freely to flow from Him being bred a Merchant-Tailor in London he gave more than Four thousand four hundred fourty five pounds to pious uses A Sum sufficient therewith to build and endow a Colledge the time being well considered being towards the beginning of the reign of King Henry the Eighth I have observed some at the Church-dore cast in six pence with such ostentation that it rebounded from the Bottom and rung against both the sides of the Bason so that the same piece of Silver was the Alms and the Givers Trumpet whilst others have dropt down silent 5 shillings without any noise Our Thorn was of the second sort doing his Charity effectually but with a possible privacy Nor was this good Christian abroad worse in the Apostle-phrase than an Iâ—…del at home in not providing for his Family who gave to his poor Kindred besides Debt forgiven unto them the sum of five thousand one hundred fourty two pounds Grudge not Reader to peruse his Epitaph which though not so good as he deserved is better than most in that Age. Robertus cubat hic Thornus Mercator Honestus Qui sibi legitimas Arte paravit opes Huic vitam dederat parvo Bristolia quondam Londinum hoc tumulo clauserat ante diem Ornavit studiis patriam virtutibus auxit Gymnasium erexit sumptibus ipse suis. Lector quisquis ades requiem cineri precor ora Supplex precibus numina
eos tantum ille qui ut habet Tsalmus 126. numerat multitudinem Stellarum omnibus eis nomina vocat St. BERTELIN was a Britton of a Noble Birth and lead an Eremitical Life in the Woods near Stafford anciently called Bethiney contracted it seems for Bertiliney something of solitariness still remaining in his Memory as being so alone it hath no memorable particulars of his accounts to accompany it WOLFADUS RUFFINUS It was pitty to part them seeing they were loving in their lives and in their death they were not divided They were sons to Wolâ—…erus the Pagan King of Mercia and a Tyrant to boot who hating Christianity and finding these times to profess privately to practice it was so enraged that nothing but their bloud would quench his anger Wolfadus was taken and martyred at Stone in this County Whilst his younger if not twin brother Ruffinus came little more behind him at his death then he started before him at his birth seeking to hid himself in a woody place where since the Chappel of Burnweston hath been built was there by his Herod-father found out and murthered They were by succeding ages rewarded with reputation of Saintâ—…ip This Massacre happened Anno Domini .... Cardinals REGINALD POLE was born at Stoverton Castle in this County Anno 1500. He was second son unto Sr. Richard Pole Knight of the Garter and Frater consobrinus a relation which I cannot make out in reference to him to Henry the Seventh His mother Margaret Countess of Salisbury was Neice to King Edward the Fourth and daughter to Geoâ—…ge Duke of Clarence This Reginald was bred in Corpus-Christi-Colledge in Oxford preferred afterward Dean of Exeter King Henry the Eighth highly favoured and sent him beyond the Seas allowing him a large Pension to live in an equipage suitable to his birth and alliance He studied at Padua conversing there so much with the Patricians of Venice that at last he degenerated into a perfect Italian so that neither love to his Country nor gratitude to the King nor sharp Letters of his Friends nor fear to lose his present nor hopes to get future preferments could perswade him to return into England but that his pensions were withdrawn from him This made him apply his studies the more privately in a Venetian-Monastery where he attained great credit for his Eloquence Learning and good Life Such esteem forreign Grandees had of his great Judgment that Cardinal Sadolet having written a large Book in the praise of Philosophy submitted it wholy to his Censure Pole as highly commended the Work as he much admired that a Cardinal of the Church of Rome would conclude his old age with writing on such a subject applying unto him the Verses of Virgil Est in conspectu Tenedos notissima fama Insula dives opum Priami dum regna manebant Nunc tantum sinus statio male fidacarinis From Troy may th'Ile of Tenedos bespide Much fam'd when Priams kingdom was in pride Now but a Bay where ships in danger ride These far fetch'd lines He thus brought home to the Cardinal that though Philosophy had been in high esteem whilst Paganisme was in the prime thereof yet was it but a bad Harbour for an aged Christian to cast his Anchor therein It was not long before he was made Deacon-Cardinal by the Title of St. Mary in Cosmedin by Pope Paul the Third who sent him on many fruitless and dangerous Embassies to the Emperour and the French King to incite them to War against King Henry the Eighth Afterwards he retired himself to Viterbo in Italy where his House was observed the Sanctuary of Lutherans and he himself became a racking but no thorough-paced Protestant In so much that being appointed one of three Presidents of the Council of Trent he endeavoured but in vain to have Justification determined by Faith alone During his living at Viterbo he carried not himself so cautiously but that he was taxed for begetting a base Child which Pasquil published in Latine and Italian Verses affixed in the season of liberty on his lawless pillar This Pasquil is an Authour eminent on many accounts First for his self-concealement being Noscens omnia notus nemini Secondly for his intelligence who can display the deeds of midnight at high noon as if he hid himself in the holes of their bedstaves knowing who were Cardinals Children better than they knew their Fathers Thirdly for his unpartial boldness He was made all of tongue and teeth biting what e're he touch'd and it bled what e're he bit Yea as if a General Council and Pasquil were only above the Pope he would not stick to tell where he trod his holy Sandals awry Fourthly for his longevity having lived or rather lasted in Rome some hundreds of years whereby he appears no particular person but a successive corporation of Satyrists Lastly for his impunity escaping the Inquifition whereof some assign this reason because hereby the Court of Rome comes to know her faults or rather to know that their faults are known which makes Pasquils converts if not more honest more wary in their behaviour This defamation made not such an impression on Poles credit but that after the death of Paul the Third he was at midnight in the Conclave chosen to succeed him Pole refused it because he would not have his choice a deed of darkness appearing therein not perfectly Italianated in not taking preferment when tendred and the Cardinals beheld his refusal as a deed of dulness Next day expecting a re-election he found new morning new minds and Pole being reprobated Julius the Third his professed enemy was chosen in his place Yet afterwards he became Alterius Orbis Papa when made Arch-bishop of Canterbury by Queen Mary He was a person free from passion whom none could anger out of his ordinary temper His youthful Books were full of the Flowers of Rhetorick whilst the withered stalkes are only found in the Writings of his old Age so dry their style and dull their conceit He died few hours after Queen Mary November the 17 Anno 1558. Prelates EDMUND STAFFORD was Brother to Ralph first Earl of Stafford and consequentially must be son to Edmund Baron Stafford His Nativity is rationally with most probability placed in this County wherein his father though Landed every where had his Prime Seat and largest revenues He was by King Richard the Second preferred Bishop of Exeter and under King Henry the Fourth for a time was Chancellour of England I meet with an Authour who doth make him Bishop first of Rochester then of Exâ—…ter and lastly of York But of the first and last altum silentium in Bishop Godwin whom I rather believe He was a Benefactor to Stapeltons-Inn in Oxford on a three-fold account viz. Of 1 Credit first calling it Exeter Colledge whereby he put an obligation on the Bishop of that See favourably to reflect thereon 2 Profit adding two Fellowships unto it and
ROBERT SAMUEL was Minister of Barfold in this County who by the cruelty of Hopton Bishop of Norwich and Downing his Chancellour was tortured in Prison Not to preserve but to reserve him for more pain He was allowed every day but three mouthfuls of Bread and three spoonfuls of water Fain would he have drunk his own Urin but his thirst-parched body afforded none I read how he saw a Vision of one all in white comforting and telling him that after that day he never should be hungry or thirsty which came to passe accordingly being within few hours after martyred at Ipswich August 31 1555. Some report that his body when burnt did shine as bright as burnish'd silver Sed parcius ista Such things must be sparingly written by those who would not only avoid untruths but the appearance thereof Thus loath to lengthen mens tongues reporting what may seem improbable and more loath to shorten Gods hand in what might be miraculous I leave the relation as I found it Besides these two I meet with more than twenty by name martyred Confessors doubling that number whose ashes were scattered all over the County at Ipswich Bury Bekles c. It is vehemently suspected that three of them burnt at Bekles had their death antedated before the Writ de Haeretico comburendo could possibly be brought down to the Sheriff And was not this to use Tertullians Latin in some different sense Festinatio homicidii Now though Chaâ—…ity may borrow a point of Law to save life surely Cruelty should not steal one to destroy it Cardinals THOMAS WOLSEY was born in the Town of Ipswich where a Butcher a very honest Man was his Father though a Poet be thus pleased to descant thereon Brave Priest who ever was thy Sire by kind Wolsey of Ipswich ne're begat thy mind One of so vast undertakings that our whole Book will not afford room enough for his Character the writing whereof I commend to some eminent Person of his Foundation of Christ-Church in Oxford He was made Cardinal of St. Cecily and died heart-broken with grief at Leicester 1530. without any Monument which made a great Wit of his own Colledge thus lately complain And though from his own store Wolsey might have A Palace or a Colledge for his grave Yet here he lies interr'd as if that all Of him to be remembred were his fall Nothing but earth to earth nor pompous weight Upon him but a pebble or a quaite If thou art thus neglected what shall we Hope after death that are but shreds of thee This may truly be said of him he was not guilty of mischievous pride and was generally commended for doing Justice when Chancellour of England Prelates HERBERT LOSING was born in this County as our * Antiquary informeth us In Pago Oxunensi in Sudovolgia Anglorum Comitatu natus but on the perusing of all the Lists of Towns in this County no Oxun appeareth therein or name neighbouring thereon in sound and syllables This I conceive the cause why Bishop Godwin so confidently makes this Herbert born Oxoniae in Oxford in which County we have formerly placed his Character However seeing Bale was an excellent Antiquary and being himself a Suffolk-man must be presumed knowing in his own County and conceiving it possible that this Oxun was either an obscure Church-less-Village or else is this day disguized under another name I conceive it just that as Oxford-shire led the Front Suffolk should bring up the Reer of this Herberts description Indeed he may well serve two Counties being so different from himself and two persons in effect When young loose and wild deeply guilty of the sin of Simony When old nothing of Herbert was in Herbert using commonly the words of St. Hierome Erravimus juvenes emendemus senes When young we went astray when old we will amend Now though some controversie about the place of his birth all agree in his death July 22 1119 and in his burial in the Cathedral Church of Norwich RICHARD ANGERVILE son to S â— Richard Angervile Knight was born at Bury in this County and bred in Oxford where he attained to great eminency in Learning He was Governour to King Edward the Third whilst Prince and afterwards advanced by Him to be successively his Cofferer Treasurer of his Wardrobe Dean of Wells Bishop of Duresme Chancellour and lastly Treasurer of England He bestowed on the poor every week Eight Quarters of Wheat baked in Bread When he removed from Duresme to Newcastle twelve short miles he used to give eight pounds sterling in Alms to the Poor and so proportionably in other places betwixt his Palaces He was a great lover of Books confessing himself Exsiatico quodam librorum amore potenter abreptum in so much that he alone had more Books than all the Bishops of England in that Age put together which stately Library by his Will he solemnly bequeathed to the University of Oxford The most eminent Foreigners were his Friends and the most Learned Englishmen were his Chaplains untill his death which happened Anno 1345. JOHN PASCHAL was born in this County where his name still continueth of Gentle Parentage bred a Carthusian and D. D. in Cambridge A great Scholar and popular Preacher Bateman Bishop of Norwich procured the Pope to make him the umbratile Bishop of Scutari whence he received as much profit as one may get heat from a Glow-worm It was not long before by the favour of King Edward the Third he was removed from a very shadow to a slender substance the Bishoprick of Landaffe wherein he died Anno Domini 1361. SIMON SUDBURY alià s TIBALD was born at Sudbury as great as most and ancient as any Town in this County After many mediate preferments let him thank the Popes provisions at last he became Arch-bishop of Canterbury He began two Synods with Latin Sermons in his own person as rare in that age as blazing stars and as ominous for they portended ill successe to Wickliffe and his followers However this Simon Sudbury overawed by the God of Heaven and John Duke of Lancaster did not because he could not any harm unto him He was killed in the Rebellion of J. Straw and Wat. Tyler Anno Domini 1381. And although his shadowey Tomb being no more than an honourary Cenotaph be shown at Christ-Church in Canterbury yet his substantial Monument wherein his Bones are deposited is to be seen in St. Gregories in Sudbury under a Marble stone sometimes inlayed all over with Brass some four yards long and two broad saith mine eyewitnesse-Authour though I confesse I never met with any of like dimension so that in some sense I may also call this a Cenotaph as not proportioned to the bulk of his Body but height of his Honour and Estate THOMAS EDWARDSTON so named from his Birth-place Edwarston in this County a Village formerly famous for the Chief Mansion of the Ancient Family of
Mounchensey bred first in Oxford then an Augustinian Eremite in Clare He was a great Scholar as his Works evidence and Confessor to Lionel Duke of Clarence whom he attended into Italy when he married Joland daughter to John Galeaceus Duke of Milan J. Pits conceiveth him to have been an Arch-bishop in Ireland which is utterly disowned by Judicious Sir James VVare And indeed if Bales words whence Pits deriveth his intelligence be considered it will appear he never had Title of an Arch-bishop sed cujusdam Archi-Episcopatus curam accepit He undertook care of some Arch-bishoprick probably commended in the vacancy thereof to his inspection And why might not this be some Italian Arch-bishoprick during his attendance on his Patron there though afterwards preferring privacy before a pompous charge he returned into his Native Country and died at Clare Anno 1396. THOMAS PEVâ—…REL was born of good Parentage in this County bred a Carmelite and D. D. in Oxford He was afterwards by King Richard the Second made Bishop of Ossory in Ireland I say by King Richard the Second which minds me of a memorable passage which I have read in an excellent Author It may justly seem strange which is most true that there are three Bishopricks in Ireland in the Province of Ulster by name Derry Rapho and Clogher which neither Queen Elizabeth nor any of her Progenitors did ever bestow though they were the undoubted Patrons thereof So that King James was the first King of England that did ever supply those Sees with Bishops so that it seems formerly the Great Irish Lords in those parts preferred their own Chaplains thereunto However the Bishopricks in the South of the Land were ever in the disposal of Our Kings amongst which Ossory was one bestowed on our Peverel From Ireland he was removed to Landaffe in Wales then to VVorchester in England being one much esteemed for Learning as his Books do declare He died according to Bishop Godwins account March the 1 1417 and lieth buried in his own Cathedral STEPHEN GARDINER was born in Bury St. Edmunds one of the best aires in England the sharpness whereof he retained in his Wit and quick apprehension Some make him Base-son to Lionel VVoodvile Bishop of Salisbury which I can hardly beleeve Salisbury and St. Edmunds-Bury being six score miles asunder Besides time herein is harder to be reconciled than place For it being granted an errour of youth in that Bishop and that Bishop vanishing out of this World 1485. Gardiner in all probability must be allowed of greater age than he was at his death It is confess'd by all that he was a man of admirable natural parts and memory especially so conducible to Learning that one saith Tantum scimus quantum meminimus He was bâ—…ed Doctor of Laws in Trinity-hall in Cambridge and after many State-Embassies and employments he was by King Henry the Eighth made Bishop of VVinchester His malice was like what is commonly said of white powder which surely discharged the Bullet yet made no report being secrete in all his acts of cruelty This made him often chide Bonner calling him Asse though not so much for killing poor people as not for doing it more cunningly He was the chief Contriver of what we may call Gardiners-Creed though consisting but of six Articles which caused the death of many and trouble of more Protestants He had almost cut off one who was and prevented another for ever being a Queen I mean Katharine Par and the Lady Elizabeth had not Divine Providence preserved them He complied with King Henry the Eighth and was what he would have him opposed King Edward the Sixth by whom he was imprisoned and depriv'd acted all under Queen Mary by whom he was restored and made Lord Chancellour of England He is reported to have died more than half a Protestant avouching that he believed himself and all others onely to be justified by the merits of Christ which if so then did he verifie the Greek and Latine Proverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saepe Olitor valde verba opportuna loquâ—…tus The Gardiner oft times in due season Speaks what is true and solid reason He died at VVhite-hall of the Gout November the 12th 1555. and is buried by his own appointment on the Northside of the Quire over against Bishop Fox in a very fair Monument He had done well if he had parallell'd Bishop Fox Founder of Corpus Christi Colledge in Oxford in erecting some publick work the rather because he died so rich being reported to have left fourty thousand Marks in ready money behind him However on one account his memory must be commended for improving his power with Queen Mary to restore some Noble Families formerly depressed My Author instanceth in some descendanâ—…e from the Duke of Norfolk in the Stanhops and the Arundels of VVarder Castle To these give me leave to adde the Right Ancient Family of the Hungerfords to whom he procured a great part of their Patrimony seased on by the Crown to be restored Since the Reformation JOHN BALE was born at Covie in this County five miles from Donwich and was brought up in Jesus-Colledge in Cambridge being before or after a Carmelite in Norwich By the means of Thomas Lord Wentworth he was converted to be a Protestant This is that Bale who wrote a Book De scriptoribus Britannicis digested into nine Centuries not more beholding to Leland than I have been to Bale in this Work and my Church-History Anno 1552 February the 2d he was consecrated at Dublin Bishop of Ossory in Ireland whence on the death of King Edward the Sixth he was forced to flie some of his servants being slain before his eyes and in his passage over the sea was taken prisoner by Pirates sold ransom'd and after many dangers safely arrived in Switzerland After the death of Queen Mary he returned into England but never to his Irish Bishoprick preferring rather a private life being a Prebendary of the Church of Canterbury One may wonder that being so Learned a Man who had done and suffered so much for Religion higher promotion was not forced upon him seeing about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth Bishopricks went about begging able men to receive them But probably he was a person more Learned than discreet fitter to write than to govern as unable to command his own passion and Biliosus Balaeus passeth for his true Character He died in the sixty eighth year of his Age at Canterbury Anno Domini 1563 in the moneth of November and was buried in the Cathedâ—…al Church therein JOHN MAY was born in this County bred in the â—…niversity of Cambridge whereof he became Proctor 1545 Elected Master of Katharine-hall 1564 Vice-Chancellour 1569 and at last consecrated Bishop of Carlile Sept. 27 1577 continuing eleven years in that See and died in April 1598. JOHN OVERAL D. D. born aâ—… Hadley in this County was bred in the Free-School therein
bred in Bennet Colledge in Cambridge to which afterwards he proved a bountiful Benefactor building a beautiful Chappel therein He afterwards applied himself to the study of the Common Law and was made Attourney to the Court of Wards whence he was preferred Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in the First of Queen Elizabeth 1558. He married Anne second daughter to S â— Anthony Cook of Giddy-hall in Essex Governour to King Edward the Sixth And it is worthy of our observation how the Sates-men in that Age were arched together in affinity to no small support one to another Sir John Cheek Secretary to K. Edward the Sixth whose sister was first wife to Sr William Cecil Secretary to the same King Sir Will. Cecil aforesaid for his second wife married the wives sister unto this Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper Sr. Francis Walsingham Secretary to Queen Elizabeth had a sister married unto Sir Walter Mildmay Chancellour of the Exchequer Sir Franc. Walsingham was also brother in Law unto Sir Tho. Randolph that grand States-man Ambassador To return to Sir Nicholas Bacon he was condemned by some who seemed wise and commended by those that were so for not causing that Sâ—…atute to be repealed the Queen relying on him as her Oracle of Law whereby the Queen was made illegitimate in the dayes of her Father For this wise States-man would not open that wound which time had partly closed and would not meddle with the variety yea contrariety of Statutes in this kind whereby people would rather be perplexed than satisfied but derived her right from another Statute which allowed her succession the rather because Lawyers maintain That a Crown once worn cleareth all defects of the wearer thereof He continued in his Office about eighteen years being a Man of rare wit and deep experience Cui fuit ingenium subtile in corpore crasso For he was loaden with a corpulent body especially in his old Age so that he would be not only out of breath but also almost out of life with going from Westminster-hall to the Star-chamber in so much when sitting down in his place it was some time before he could recover himself And therefore it was usual in that Court that no Lawyer should begin to speak till the Lord Keeper held up his staffe as a signal to him to begin He gave for his Motto Mediocria Firma and practised the former part thereof Mediocria Never attaining because never affecting any great Estate He was not for Invidious Structures as some of his Contemporaries but delighted in Domo Domino pari Such as was his house at Gorhambury in Hartfordshire And therefore when Queen Elizabeth coming thither in progresse told him My Lord your house is too little for you No Madam returned he no less wittely than gratefully But it is your Highness that hath made me too great for mine house Now as he was a just practiser of the first part of this Motto Mediocria so no doubt he will prove a true Prophet in the second part thereof Firma having left an Estate rather good than great to his posterity whose eldest son Sir Edward Bacon in this County was the first Baronet of England He died on the 20th of February 1578 and Iieth buried in the Quire of St. Pauls In a word he was a goodman a grave States-man a Father to his Country and Father to Sir FRANCIS BACON Sir WILLIAM DRUERY was born in this County where his Worshipful Family had long flourished at Haulsted His name in Saxon soundeth a Pearle to which he answered in the pretiousness of his disposition clear and hard innocent and valiant and therefore valued deservedly by his Queen and Country His youth he spent in the French Wars his middle in Scotland and his old Age in Ireland He was Knight Marshal of Barwick at what time the French had possessed themselves of the Castle of Edenburgh in the minority of King James Queen Elizabeth employed this Sir William with 1500 men to besiege the Castle which service he right worthily performed reducing it within few dayes to the true owner thereof Anno 1575 he was appointed Lord President of Mounster whether he went with competent Forces and executed impartial Justice in despite of the Opposers thereof For as the Sign of Leo immediately precedeth Virgo and Libra in the Zodiack so no hope that innocency will be protected or Justice administred in a Barbarous Country where power and strength do not first secure a passage unto them But the Earl of Desmond opposed this good President forbidding him to enter the County of Kerry as a Palatinate peculiarly appropriated unto himself Know by the way as there were but four Palatinates in England Chester LancasterDurham and Ely whereof the two former many years since were in effect invested in thâ—… Crown there were no fewer than eight Palatinates in Ireland possessed by their Respective Dynasts claiming Regal Rites therein to the great retarding of the absolute Conquest of that Kingdom Amongst these saith my Author Kerry became the Sanctuary of sin and Refuge of Rebels as out-lawed from any English Jurisdiction Sir William no whit terrified with the Earls threatning entred Kerry with a competent Train and there dispenced Justice to all persons as occasion did require Thus with his seven-score men he safely forced his return through seven hundred of the Earls who sought to surprise him In the last year of his life he was made Lord Deputy of Ireland and no doubt had performed much in his place if not afflicted with constant sickness the fore-runner of his death at Waterford 1598. Sir ROBERT NAUNTON was born in this County of Right ancient Extraction some avouching that his Family were here before others that they came in with the Conqueror who rewarded the chief of that Name for his service with a great Inheretrix given him in marriage In so much that his Lands were then estimated at a vast sum in my Judgment seven hundred pounds a year For along time they were Patrons of Alderton in this County where I conceive Sir Robert was born He was first bred Fellow Commoner in Trinity Colledge and then Fellow of Trinity-Hall in Cambridge He was Proctor of the University Anno Domini 160 0 1 which Office according to the Old Circle returned not to that Colledge but once in fourty four years He addicted himself from his youth to such studies as did tend to accomplish him for Publick imployment I conceive his most excellent piece called Fragmenta Regalia set forth since his death was a fruit of his younger years He was afterwards sworn Secretary of State to King James on Thursday the eighth of January 1617. which place he discharged with great ability and dexterity And I hope it will be no offence here to insert a pleasant passage One Mr. Wiemark a wealthy Man great Novilant and constant Pauls walker hearing the News that day of the beheading of Sir Walter Raleigh His head said he
notice of his parts and perfections allowing him Festivum ingenium ad quodcunque deflexum having a subtile and supple Wit so that he could be what he would be a great Master of Defence in the Schools both to guard and hit Bale saith he saw his Works in Cambridge fairly written in four great Volumes Weary with his long Race beyond the seas he returned at last to the place whence he started and retiring to his Convent whereof he was Ruler at Ipswich died there January 22 1448. JOHN of BURY was an Augustinian in Clare Doctor of Divinity in Cambridge Provincial of his Order thorough England and Ireland no mean Scholar and a great opposer of Reginald Peakock and all other Wicklevites He flourished Anno 1460. THOMAS SCROOPE was born at Bradley in this County but extracted from the Lord Scroop in York-shire who rolled through many professions 1 He was a Benedictine but found that Order too loose for his conscience 2 A Carmelite of Norwich as a stricter profession 3 An Anchorite the dungeon of the prison of Carmelitisme wherein he lived twenty years 4 Dispensed with by the Pope he became Bishop of Drummore in Ireland 5 Quiâ—…ing his Bishoprick he returned to his solitary life yet so that once a week he used to walk on his bare â—…eet and preach the Decalogue in the Villages round about He lived to be extreamly aged for about the year 1425 cloathed in sack-cloath and girt with an iron chain he used to cry out in the streets That new Jerusalem the Bride of the Lamb was shortly to come down from Heaven prepared for her Spouse Revel 21 and that with great joy he saw the same in the spirit Thomas Waldensis the great Anti-Wicklevite was much offended thereat protesting it was a scandal and disgrace to the Church However our Scroope long out-lived him and died aged well nigh 100 years Non sine sanctitatis opinione say both Bale and 〈◊〉 And it is a wonder they meet in the same opinion He was buried at 〈◊〉 in this County Anno 1491. Since the Reformation RICHARD SIRS was born in the edge of this County yet so that Essex seemeth to have no share in him nigh Sudbury and was bred a Fellow of St. Johns Colledge in Cambridge He proved afterwards a most profitable Preacher to the Honourable Society of Grais-Inn whence he was chosen Master of St. Katharine-hall in Cambridge He found the House in a mean condition the Wheel of St. Katharine having stood still not to say gone backwards for some years together he left it replenished with Scholars beautified with Buildings better endowed with Revenues He was most eminent for that grace which is most worth yet cost the least to keep it viz. Christian humility Of all points of Divinity he most frequently pressed that of Christs Incarnation and if the Angels desired to pry into that Mystery no wonder if this Angelical Man had a longing to look therein A Learned Divine imputed this good Doctors great humility to his much meditating on that point of Christs humiliation when he took our flesh upon him If it be true what some hold in Physick that Omne par nutrit suum par that the Vitals of our Body are most strengthned by feeding on such Meat as are likest unto them I see no absurdity to maintain that Mens souls improve most in those graces whereon they have most constant meditation whereof this worthy Doctor was an eminent instance He died in the 58th year of his Age Anno Domini 1631. WILLIAM ALABLASTER was born at Hadley in this County and by marriage was Nephew to Doctor John Still Bishop of Bath and Wells He was bred Fellow in Trinity Colledge in Cambridge A most rare Poet as any our Age or Nation hath produced witnesse his Tragedy of Roxama admirably acted in that Colledge and so pathetically that a Gentle-woman present thereat Reader I had it from an Author whose credit it is sin with me to suspect at the hearing of the last words thereof sequar sequar so hideously pronounced fell distracted and never after fully recovered her senses He attended Chaplain in Calis-voyage on Robert Earl of Essex where he was so affected with the beauty of Popish Churches and the Venerable respect the Papists gave to their Priests that he staggered in his own Religion There wanted not those of the Romish party to force his fall whom they found reeling working on his Ambition who complained of the slownesse of preferment in England which followed not so fast as in due time to overtake his deserts so that soon after he turned a Papist Yet it was not long before he was out of love with that perswasion so that whether because he could not comport with their discipline who would have made him who conceived himself at the top begin again according to their course at the bottom of Humane Learning Or because which I rather charitably beleeve that upon second thoughts he seriously disgusted the Romish superstition he returned into his own Country It was not long before he was made Prebendary of St. Pauls and Rector of the rich Parsonage of Tharfield in Hartford-shire He was an excellent Hebrician and well skilled in Cabalistical Learning witnesse his Clerum in Cambridge when he commenced Doctor in Divinity taking for his Text the first words of the first Book of Chronicles Adam Seth Enos Besides the literal sense as they are proper names of the Patriarchs he mined for a mystical meaning Man is put or placed for pain and trouble How well this agreeth with the Original belongs not to me to enquire This I know it had been hard if not impossible for him to hold on the same rate and reduce the proper names in the Genealogies following to such an Appellativeness as should compose a continued sense He died Anno Domini 163. SAMUEL WARD was born at Haveril in this County where his Father had long been a painful Minister of the place and I remember I have read this Epitaph written on his Monument in the Chancel there which I will endeavour to translate Quo si quis scivit scitiùs Aut si quis docuit doctiùs At rarus vixit sanctiùs Et nullus tonuit fortiùs Grant some of knowledge greater store More Learned some in teaching Yet few in life did lighten more None thundred more in preaching He bred his son Samuel in Cambridge in Sidney Colledge whereof he became Fellow being an excellent Artist Linguist Divine and Preacher He had a sanctified fancy dexterous in designing expressive pictures representing much matter in a little model From Cambridge he was preferred Minister in or rather of Ipswich having a care over and a love from all the Parishes in that populous place Indeed he had a magnifick Vertue as if he had learned it from the Load-stone in whose qualities he was so knowing to attract peoples affections Yet found he foes as well as friends who complained of him to the High
in this Shire though one may seem somewhat suspicious as being bred living though not to their full strength and stature of being navigable and dying therein swallowed up by the sea It is sufficient evidence of the plenty of this County that the Tolle of the Wheat Corn and Malt growing or made about and sold in the City of Chichester doth amount yearly at a half penny a Quarter to sixty pounds and upwards as the Gatherers thereof will attest and the numbers of the Bushels we leave to be Audited by better Arithmeticians It hath been said that the first Baron Viscount and Earl in England all three have and have had for some term of time their chief residence in this County and it is more civility to believe all then to deny any part of the repoâ—…t though sure I am this observation was discomposed at the death of the Earl of Essex since which time Viscount Hereford is the first Person in England of that Dignity Naturall Commodities Iron Great the necessity hereof some Nations having lived in the ignorance of Gold and Silver scarce any without the use of Iron Indeed we read not of it in making the Tabernacle though from no mention no use thereof therein cannot infallibly be inferred which being but a Slight and Portable Building Brass might supply the want thereof But in the Temple which was a firmer fabrick we find Iron for the things of Iron and a hundred thousand Talents of that Metal imployed therein Great the quantity of Iron made in this County whereof much used therein and more exported thence into other parts of the Land and beyond the Seas But whether or no the private profit thereby will at long-running countervail the publick loss in the destruction of woodâ—… I am as unwilling to discuss as unable to decide Onely let me adde the ensuing complaint wherein the Timber-trees of this County deplore their condition in my opinion richly worth the Readers perusall Joves Oake the warlike Ash veyn'd Elm the softer Beech Short Hazell Maple plain light Aspe the bending Wych Tough Holly and soomth Birch must altogether burn What should the Builders serve supplies the Forgers turn When under publick good base private gain takes hold And we poor wofull woods to ruin lastly sold. But it is to be hoped that a way may be found out to â—…harke Seacole in such manner as to render it usefull for the making of Iron All things are not found out in one age as reserved for future discovery and that perchance may be easy for the next which seems impossible to this generation Talk Talk in Latine Talchum is a cheap kind of Mineral which this County plentifully affords though not so fine as what is fetch'd from Venice It is white and transparent like Chrystall full of strekes or veins which prettily scatter themselves Being calcined and variously prepared it maketh a curious White wash which some justiâ—…y lawfull because Cleaâ—…ing not Changing Complexion It is a great Astringent yet used but little in Physick Surely Nature would not have made it such an Hypocrit to hang out so fair a sign except some guest of Quality were lodged therein I mean it would not appear so beautifull to the eye except some conâ—…ealed worth were couched therein Inclining me to believe that the vertue 〈◊〉 is not yet fully discovered Wheat ears Wheat-ears is a bird peculiar to this County hardly found out of it It is so called because fattest when Wheat is râ—…pe whereon it feeds being no bigger then a Lark which it equalleth in the fineness of the flesh far exceedeth in the fatness thereof The worst is that being onely seasonable in the heat of summer and naturally larded with lumps of fat it is soon subject to corrupt so that though abounding within fourty miles London-Poulterers have no mind to meddle with them which no care in carriage can keep from Putrefaction That Palate-men shall pass in silence who being seriously demanded his judgment concerning the abilities of a great Lord concluded him a man of very weak parts because once he saw him at a great Feast feed on CHICKENS when there were WHEAT-EARS on the Table I will adde no more in praise of this Bird for fear some female Reader may fall in longing for it and unhappily be disappointed of her desire Carpes It is a stately fish but not long Naturalized in England and of all Fresh-water fishes the Ele only excepted lives longest out of his Proper Element They breed which most other fishes doe not severall Months in one year though in cold Ponds they take no comfort to increase A learned Writer observeth they live but ten years though others assign them a far longer life They are the better for their age and bigness a rule which holds not in other Fishes and their Tongues by ancient Roman Palate-men were counted most delicious meat though to speak Properly they have either no Tongues in their Mouths or all their Mouths are Tongues as filled with a Carneous substance whilst their Teeth are found in their throats There is a kind of Frog which is a Profest Foe unto them insomuch that of a Hundred Carpes put into a Pond not five of them have been found therein a year after And though some may say perchance two-leged Frogs stole them away yet the strict care of their Owners in watching them disproved all suspition thereof Now as this County is eminent for both Sea and River 〈◊〉 namely an Arundel Mullet a Chichester Lobster a 〈◊〉 Cockle and an Ameâ—…ly Trout So Sussex aboundeth with more Carpes then any other of this Nation And though not so great as Jovius reporteth to be found in the Lurian Lake in Italy weighing more then fifty pounds yet those generally of great and goodly proportion I need not adde that Physicians account the galls of Carpâ—…s as also a stone in their heads to be 〈◊〉 only I will observe that because Jews will not eat Caviare made of 〈◊〉 because coming from a fish wanting Scals and therefore forbidden in the Levitical Law Therefore the Italians make greater profit of the Spaun of Carps whereof they make a Red Caviare well pleasing the Jews both in Palate and Conscience All I will adde of Carps is this that Ramuâ—… himself doth not so much redound in Dichotomies as they do Seeing no one bone is to be found in their body which is not forked or divided into two parts at the end thereof Manufactures Great Guns It is almost incredible how many are made of the iron in this County Count Gondomer well knew their goodness when of K. James he so often begg'd the boon to transport them A Monke of Mentz some three hundred years since is generally reputed the first Founder of them Surely ingenuity may seem transposed and to have cross'd her hands when about the same time a Sâ—…uldier found out Printing and it is questionable which of the two Inventions
he was successively preferred by King Charles the first Bishop of Hereford and London and for some years Lord Treasurer of England A troublesome place in those times it being expected that he should make much Brick though not altogether without yet with very little Straw allowed unto him Large then the Expences Low the Revenues of the Exchequer Yet those Coffers which he found Empty he left Filling and had left Full had Peace been preserved in the Land and he continued in his Place Such the mildness of his temper that Petitioners for Money when it was not to be had departed well pleased with his denialls they were so civilly Languaged It may justly seem a wonder that whereas few spake well of Bishops at that time and Lord Treasurers at all times are liable to the Complaints of discontented people though both Offices met in this man yet with Demetrius he was well reported of all men and of the truth it self He lived to see much shame and contempt undeservedly poured on his Function and all the while possessed his own soul in patience He beheld those of his Order to lose their votes in Parliament and their insulting enemies hence concluded Loss of speech being a sad Symptom of approching Death that their Final extirpation would follow whose own experience at this day giveth the Lie to their malicious Collection Nor was it the least part of this Prelates Honour that amongst the many worthy Bishops of our Land King Charles the first selected him for his Confessor at his Martyrdome He formerly had had experience in the case of the Earl of Strafford that this Bishops Conscience was bottom'd on Piety not Policy the reason that from him he received the Sacrament good Comfort and Counsell just before he was Murdered I say just before that Royal Martyr was Murdered a Fact so foul that it alone may confute the errour of the Pelagians maintaining that all Sin cometh by imitaâ—…ion the Universe not formerly affording such a Precedent as if those Regicides had purposely designed to disprove the Observation of Solomon that there is No new thing under the Sun King Charles the second Anno Domini 1660. preferred him Arch-bishop of Canterbury which place he worthily graceth at the writing hereof Feb. 1. 1660. ACCEPTUS FRUIN D. D. was born at in this County bred Fellow of Magdalen-colledge in Oxford and afterwards became President thereof and after some mediate preferments was by King Charles the first advanced Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield and since by King Charles the second made Arch-bishop of York But the matter whereof Porcellane or China dishes are made must be ripened many years in the earth before it comes to full perfection The Living are not the proper objects of the Historians Pen who may be misinterpreted to flatter even when he falls short of their due Commendation the Reason why I adde no more in the praise of this worthy Prelate As to the Nativities of Arch-bishops one may say of this County many Shires have done worthily but SUSSEX surmounteth them all having bred Five Archbishops of Canterbury and at this instant claiming for her Natives the two Metropolitans of our Nation States-men THOMAS SACKVILL son and heir to Sir Richard Sackvill Chancellour and Sub-Treasurer of the Exchequer and Privy-Counsellour to Queen Elizabeth by Winifred his wife daughter to Sir John Bruges was bred in the University of Oxford where he became an excellent Poet leaving both Latine and English Poems of his composing to posterity Then studied he law in the Temple and took the degree of Barrister afterward he travelled into forraign parts detained for a time a prisoner in Rome whence his liberty was procured for his return into England to possess the vast Inheritance left him by his father whereof in short time by his magnificent prodigality he spent the greatest part till he seasonably began to spare growing neer to the bottom of his Estate The story goes that this young Gentleman coming to an Alderman of London who had gained great Pennyworths by his former purchases of him was made being now in the Wane of his Wealth to wait the coming down of the Alderman so long that his generous humour being sensible of the incivility of such attendance resolved to be no more beholding to Wealthy pride and presently turned a thrifty improver of the remainder of his Estate If this be true I could wish that all Aldermen would State it on the like occasion on condition their noble debtors would but make so good use thereof But others make him the Convert of Queen Elizabeth his Cosin german once removed who by her frequent admonitions diverted the torrent of his profusion Indeed she would not know him till he began to know himself and then heaped places of honour and trust upon him creating him 1. Baron of Buckhurst in this County the reason why we have placed him therein Anno Dom. 1566. 2. Sending him Ambassadour into France Anno 1571. into the Low-countries Anno 1586. 3. Making him Knight of the Order of the Garter Anno 1589. 4. Appointing him Treasurer of England 1599. He was Chancellour of the University of Oxford where he entertained Q. Elizabeth with a most sumptuous feast His elocution was good but inditing better and therefore no wonder if his Secretaries could not please him being a person of so quick dispatch faculties which yet run in the bloud He took a Roll of the names of all Suitors with the date of their first addresses and these in order had their hearing so that a fresh-man could not leap over the head of his senior except in urgent affairs of State Thus having made amends to his house for his mis-spent time both in increase of Estate and Honour being created Earl of Dorset by King James he died on the 19. of April 1608. Capitall Judges Sir JOHN JEFFRY Knight was born in this County as I have been informed It confirmeth me herein because he left a fair Estate in this Shire Judges genebuilding their Nest neer the place where they were Hatched which descended to his Daughter He so profited in the study of our Municipall-Law that he was preferred Secondary Judge of the Common-pleas and thence advanced by Queen Elizabeth in Michaelmas Terme the nineteenth of her Reign to be Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer which place he discharged for the Terme of two years to his great commendation He left one only Daughter and Heir married to Sir Edward Mountague since Baron of Boughton by whom he had but one Daughter Elizabeth married to Robert Barty Earl of Linsey Mother to the truly Honorable Mountague Earl of Linsey and Lord Great Chamberlain of England This worthy Judge died in the 21. of Queen Elizabâ—…h Souldiers The ABBOT of BATTLE He is a pregnant Proof that one may leave no Name and yet a good Memory behind him His Christian or Surname cannot be recovered out of our Chronicles which hitherto
King Edward the second regaining his Good will by the intercession of Arch-bishop Mepham and being a Subject not to the Prosperity but person of his Prince he forsooke him not in his greatest Extremity This cost him the Displeasure of the Queen Mother and King Edward the third till at last Converted by his Constancy they turned their frowns into smiles upon him When Arch-bishop of Canterbury he perswaded King Edward the third to invade France promising to supply him with competent provisions for the purpose A promise not so proportionable to his Archiepiscopal Capacity as to him as he had been twice Treasurer of England and skilfull in the collecting and advancing of money so that he furnished the King with great sums at his first setting forth for France These being spent before the year ended the King sends over for a supply Stratford instead of Coin returns Counsell advising him to alter his Officers otherwise if so much was spent at a Breakfast the whole wealth of the land would not suffice him for Dinner Over comes the angry King from whose fury Stratford was forc'd to conceal himself untill publickly passing his purgation in Parliament he was restored to the reputation of his Innocence and rectified in the Kings esteem He built and bountifully endowed a Beautifull Colledge in the Town of his Nativity and having set Archbishop fifteen years dyed Anno 1348. leaving a perfumed memory behind him for his Bounty to his Servants Charity to the Poor Meekness and Moderation to all persons RALPH STRATFORD kinsman to the foresaid Arch-bishop was born in the Town of Stratford on Avon where he built a Chappel to the honour of Saint Thomas He was first Cannon of Saint Pauls and afterwards May 12. 1339. was consecrated at Canterbury Bishop of London During his sitting in that See there happened so grievous a Pestilence in London that hardly the Tenth Person in some places did escape Then each Church-yard was indeed a Polyandrum so that the Dead might seem to Justle one another for room therein Yea the Dead did kill the Living so shallowly were their heaped Corps interred Whereupon this Bishop Charitably bought a Piece of Ground nigh Smithfield It was called No Mans-Land not à parte Ante as formerly without an Owner seeing it had a Proprictary of whom it was legally purchased but de futuro none having a particular interest therein though indeed it was All-Mens-Land as designed and consecrated for the Generall Sepulture of the Deceased This Bishop having continued about 14. years in his See he died at Stepney 1355. ROBERT STRATFORD brother to the Arch-bishop aforesaid was in the reign of King Edward the third made Bishop of Chichester He was at the same time Chancellour of Oxford wherein he was bred and of all England Honorable Offices which sometimes have met in the same Person though never more deservedly then in the Present Enjoyer of them both In his time there was a tough contest betwixt the South and Northern-men in that University They fell from their Pens to their Hands using the contracted fist of Marâ—…ial Logick bloody blows passing betwixt them Th s Bishop did wisely and fortunately bestirre himself an Arbitrator in this Controversy being a proper Person for such a performance born in this County in the very Navil of England so that his Nativity was a Naturall Expedient betwixt them and his Judgement was unpartiall in compremising the difference He was accused to the King for favouring the French with his Brother Archbishop contented patiently to attend till Pregnant Time was delivered of Truth her Daughter and then this Brace of Prelates appeared Brethren in Integrity He died at Allingbourn April 9. 1362. JOHN VESTY alias HARMAN Doctor of Law was born at Sutton Colefield in this County bred in Oxford A most vivacious person if the Date of these Remarks be seriously considered 1. In the twentieth year of King Henry the sixth he was appointed to celebrate the Divine-service in the Free-Chappell of Saint Blase of Sutton aforesaid 2. In the twentie third year of Henry the seventh he was made Vicar of Saint Michaells Church in Coventry 3. Under K. Henry the eighth he was made Dean of the Chappell Royall Tutor to the Lady Mary and President of Wales 4. In the Eleventh of K. Henry the eighth 1519. he was advanced to be Bishop of Exeter Which Bishoprick he destroyed not onely shaving the Hairs with long leases but cutting away the limbs with sales outright in so much that Bishop Hall his successor in that See complaineth in print that the following Bishops were Barons but Bare-ones indeed Some have Confidently affirmed in my hearing that the word to Veize that is in the West to drive away with a Witness had its Originall from his Profligating of the lands of his Bishoprick but I yet demurre to the truth thereof He robbed his own Cathedrall to pay a Parish Church Sutton in this County where he was born wheron he bestowed many Benefactions and built fifty one houses To inrich this his Native Town he brought out of Devonshire many Clothiers with Desire and Hope to fix the Manufacture of Cloathing there All in vaine for as Bishop Godwin observeth Non omnis fert omnia tellus Which though true conjunctively that all Countrys put together bring forth all things to be Mutually bartered by a Reciprocation of Trade is false disjunctively no one place affording all Commodities so that the Cloath-workers here had their pains for their labour and sold for their lost It seems though he brought out of Devon-shire the Fiddle and Fiddlestick he brought not the Rosen therewith to make Good Musick and every Country is innated with a Peculiar Genius and is left handed to those trades which are against their Inclinations He quitted his Bishoprick not worth keeping in the reign of King Edward the sixth and no wonder he resumed it not in the reign of Queen Mary the Bone not being worth the taking the Marrow being knocked out before He died being 103. years old in the reign of Q. Mary and was buried in his Native Town with his Statue Mitred and Vested Since the Reformation JOHN BIRD was born in the City of Coventry bred a Carmelite at Oxford and became afterwards the 31. the head-game and last Provinciall of his Order He Preached some smart Sermons before King Henry the eighth against the Primacy of the Pope for which he was preferred saith Bishop Godwin to be successively Bishop of Ossery in Ireland Bangor in Wales and Chester in England To the two last we concur but dissent to the former because John Bale contemporary with this John Bird and also Bishop of Ossery who therefore must be presumed skilfull in his Predecessors in that See nameth him not Bishop of Ossery but Episcopum Pennecensem in Hiberniâ the same Bale saith of him Audivi eum ad Papismi vomitum reversum I have heard that in the reign of Queen Mâ—…ry he returned to
I will therefore crave leave to transcribe what followeth out of a short but worthy work of my honoured friend confident of the Authenticall truth thereof The Fight was very terrible for the time no fewer then five thousand men slain upon the place the Prologue to a greater slaughter if the dark night had not put an end unto that dispute Each part pretended to the victory but it went clearly on the Kings side who though â—…e lost his Generall yet he kept the Field and possessed himself of the dead bodies and not so oâ—…ely but he made his way open unto London and in his way forced Banbury Castle in the very sight as it were of the Earl of Essex who with his flying Army made all the hast he could towards the City that he might be there before the King to secure the Parliament More certain signs there could not be of an absâ—…lute victory In the Battel of Taro between the Confederates of Italy and Charles the eight of France it happened so that the Confederates kept the Field possest themselves of the Camp Baggage and Artillery which the French in their breaking through had left behind them Hereupon a dispute was raised to whom the Honour of that day did of right belong which all knowing anâ—… impartiall men gave unto the French For though they lost the Field their Camp Artillery and Baggage yet they obtained what they fought for which was the opening of their way to France and which the Confederates did intend to deprive them of Which resolution in that case may be a ruling case to this the King having not onely kept the Field possest himself of the dead bodies pillaged the carriages of the enemy but forcibly opened his way towards London which the enemy endeavoured to hinder and finally entred triumphantly into Oxford with no fewer then an hundred and twenty Coâ—…ours taken in the Fight Thus far my friend Let me adde that what Salust observeth of the Conspirators with Cateline that where they stood in the Fight whilst living they covered the same place with their Corpes when dead was as true of the Loyal Gentry of Lincoln-shire with the Earl of Linsey their Country man Know also that the over-soon and over-far pursuit of a flying Party with Pillaging of the Carriages by some who prefer the snatching of wealth before the Securing of Victory hath often been the Cause why the Conquest hath slipped out of their fingers who had it in their hands and had not some such miscarriage happened here the Royalists had totally in all probability routed their Enemies The Farewell I cannot but congratulate the happiness of this County in having Master William Dugdale now Norrey my wrothy Friend a Native thereof Whose Illustrations are so great a work no Young Man could be so bold to begin or Old Man hope to finish it whilst one of Middle-Age fitted the Performance A well chosen County for such a Subject because lying in the Center of the Land whose Lustre diffuseth the Light and darteth Beames to the Circumference of the Kingdome It were a wild wish that all the Shires in England where described to an equall degree of perâ—…ection as which will be accomplished when each Star is as big and bright as the Sun However one may desire them done quoad speciem though not quoad gradum in imitation of Warwickshire Yet is this hopeless to come to pass till mens Pains may meet with Proportionable Incouragement and then the Poets Prediction will be true Sint Maecenates non desint Flacce Marones Virgiliumque tibi vel tua Rura dabunt Let not Maeceâ—…asses be Scant And Maroes we shall newer Wanâ—… For. Flaccus then thy Country-field Shall unto thee a Virgil yield And then would our Little divided World be better described then the Great World by all the Geographers who have written thereof VVESTMERLAND WESTMERLAND hath Cumberland on the West and North Lancashire on the South Bishoprick and Yorkshire on the East thereof From North to South it extendeth thirty miles in length but is contented in the breadth with twenty four As for the soil thereof to prevent exceptions take its description from the pen of a credible Author It is not commended either for plenty of Corn or Cattle being neither stored with arable grounds to bring forth the one nor pasturage to breed up the other the principal profit that the people of this Province raise unto themselves is by clothing Here is cold comfort from nature but somewhat of warmth from industry that the land is barren is Gods pleasure the people painfull their praise that thereby they grow wealthy shews Gods goodnâ—…ss and calls for their gratefulness However though this County be sterile by general Rule it is fruitfull by some few exceptions having some pleasant vales though such ware be too fine to have much measure thereof In so much that some Back-friends to this County will say that though Westmerland hath much of Eden running clean through it yet hath little of Delight therein I behold the barrenness of this County as the cause why so few Frieries and Convents therein Master Speed so curious in his Catalogue in this kind mentioning but one Religious house therein Such lazy-folk did hate labour as a house of Correction and knew there was nothing to be had here but what Art with Industry wrested from Nature The Reader perchance will smile at my curiosity in observing that this small County having but four Market Towns three of them are Kirkby-Stephens Kirkby-Lonsdale Kirkby-Kendale so that so much of Kirk or Church argueth not a little Devotion of the Ancestors in these parts judiciously expressing it self not in building Convents for the ease of Monks but Churches for the worship of God The Manufacture Kendall Cottons are famous all over England and Master Camden termeth that Town Lanificii gloria industria praecellens I hope the Townâ—…men thereof a word is enough to the wise will make their commodities so substantiall that no Southern Town shall take an advantage to gain that Trading away from them I speak not this out of the least distrust of their honesty but the great desire of their happiness who being a Cambridge-man out of Sympathy wish well to the Clothiers of Kendall as the first founder of our Sturbridge-fair Proverbs Let Uter-Pendragon do what he can The River Eden will run as it ran Tradition reporteth that this Uter-Pendragon had a design to fortifie the Castle of Pen-Dragon in this County In order whereunto with much art and industry he invited and tempted the River of Eden to forsake his old chanell and all to no purpose The Proverb is appliable to such who offer a rape to Nature indeavouring what is cross and contrary thereunto Naturam expellas Furcâ licet usque recurret Beat Nature back 't is all in vain With Tines of Fork 't will come again However Christians have not onely some hope but comfortable assurance that they
Martyrdome and hereon a remarkable Story doth depend A Story which hath been solemnly avouched by the late reverend Archbishop of Armagh in the presence of several persons and amongst others unto Sir James Ware Knight that most excellent Antiquary and divers in the University of Oxford who wrot it from his mouth as he received the same from ancient persons of unquestionable credit About the third of the raign of Queen Mary a Pursevant was sent with a Commission into Ireland to impower some eminent persons to proceed with fire and fagot against poor Protestants It happened by Divine Providence this Pursevant at Chester lodged in the house of a Protestant Inn-keeper who having gotten some inkling of the matter secretly stole his Commission out of his Cloke-bag and put the Knave of Clubs in the room thereof Some weeks after he appeared before the Lords of the Privy-Councel at Dublin of whom Bishop Coren a principall and produced a Card for his pretended Commission They caused him to be committed to prison for such an affront as done on designe to deride them Here he lay for some months till with much adoe at last he got his enlargement Then over he returned for England and quickly getting his Commission renewed makes with all speed for Ireland again But before his arrival there he was prevented with the news of Queen Maries death and so the lives of many and the liberties of more poor Servants of God were preserved To return to our Coren though a moderate Papist in Queen Maries days yet he conformed with the first to the reformation of Queen Elizabeth being ever sound in his Heart He was for some short time cheif Justice and Chancellor of Ireland till he quitted all his Dignities in exchange for the Bishoprick of Oxford It may seem a wonder that he should leave one of the best Arch-bishopricks in Ireland for one of the worst Bishopricks in England But oh no Preferment to Quiet and this Politick Prelate very decrepit broken with old age and many State-affairs desired a private repose in his Native Land before his death which happened Anno Dom. 1567. BARNABY POTTER was born in this County 1578. within the Barony of Kendall in which Town he was brought up untill he was sent to Queens-colledge in Oxford becoming successively Scholar Fellow and Provost thereof He was chosen the last with the unanimous consent of the Fellows when being at great distance he never dreamed thereof Then resigning his Provosts Place he betook himself to his Pastorall charge in the Country He was Chaplain in Ordinary to Prince Charles being accounted at Court the Penitentiall Preacher and by King Charles was preferred Bishop of Carlile when others sued for the Place and he little thought thereof He was commonly called the Puritanicall Bishop and they would say of him in the time of King James that Organs would blow him out of the Church which I do not believe the rather because he was loving of and skilfull in Vocall Musick and could bear his own part therein He was a constant Preacher and performer of family-duties of a Weak Constitution Melancholy Lean and an Hard Student He dyed in honour being the last Bishop that dyed a Member of Parliament in the year of our Lord 1642. States-men Sir EDWARD BELLINGHAM Knight was born of an ancient and warlike family in this County servant of the Privy-Chamber to King Edward the sixth who sent him over Anno 1547. to be Lord Deputy of Ireland whose Learning Wisdome and Valour made him fit to discharge that place Hitherto the English-pale had been hide-bound in the growth thereof having not gained one foot of ground in more then two hundred years since the time of King Edward the third This Sir Edward first extended it proceeding against the Irishry in a martial course by beating and breaking the Moors and Connors two rebellious Septs And because the Poet saith true It proves a man as brave and wise To keep as for to get the prize He built the forts of Leix and Offaly to secure his new acquisition Surely had he not been suddenly revok d into England he would have perfected the project in the same sort as it was performed by his successour the Earl of Sussex by setling English plantations therein Such his secresie the soul of great designs that his Souldiers never knew whither they went till they were come whither they should go Thus he surprised the Earl of Desmond being rude and unnurtured brought him up to Dublin where he informed and reformed him in manners and civility sometimes making him to kneel on his knees an hour together before he knew dis duty till he became a new man in his behaviour This Earl all his life after highly honoured him and at every dinner and supper would pray to God for good Sir Edward Bellingham who had so much improved him This Deputy had no fault in his Deputiship but one that it was so short he being called home before two years were expired Surely this hath much retarded the reducing of the Irishry the often shifting of their Deputies too often change of the kinds of plaisters hinders the healing of the sore so that as soon as they had learn'd their trade they must resigne their shop to another which made King James continue the Lord Chichester so long in the place for the more effectual performance therein Coming into England he was accused of many faults but cleared himself as fast as his adversaries charged him recovering the Kings favour in so high a degree that he had been sent over Deputy again save that he excused himself by indisposition of body and died not long after Writers RICHARD KENDAL I place him here with confidence because no Kendal in England save what is the chief Town of this County He was an excellent Grammarian and the greatest instructer Shreud and Sharp enough of youth in his age He had a vast collection of all Latine Grammars and thence extracted a Quintessence whereof he was so highly conceited that he publickly boasted that Latine onely to be Elegant which was made according to his Rules and all other to be Base and Barbarous Which Reader I conceive being out of his though under thy Correction a Proud and Pedantick expression He flourished in the raign of K. Henry the sixth Since the Reformation BERNARD Son of EDWIN GILPIN Esquire was born at Kentmire in this County Anno 1517. At sixteen years old very young in that Age from those Parts his Parents sent him to Queens-colledge in Oxford whence his merit advanced him one of the first Students in the new foundation of Christs church Hitherto the Heat of Gilpin was more then his Light and he hated Vice more then Error which made him so heartily dispute against Master Hooper who afterwards was Martyred when indeed he did follow his Argument with his Affections How afterwards he became a zealous Protestant I referre the
Reader to his Life written at large by Bishop Carlton he was Rector of Houghton in the North consisting of fourteen Villages In his own house he boarded and kept full four and twenty scholars The greater number of his boarders were poor mens sons upon whom he bestowed meat drink and cloth and education in learning He was wont to entertain his Parishioners and strangers at his table not onely at the Christmas time as the custome is but because he had a large and wide Parish a great multitude of people he kept a table for them every Sunday from Michâ—…elmas to Easter He had the Gentlemen the Husbandmen and the Poorer sort set every degree by themselves and as it were ordered in ranks He was wont to commend the married estate in the Clergy howbeit himself lived and dyed a single man He bestowed in the building ordering and establishing of his School and in providing yearly stipends for a School-master and an Usher the full summe of five hundred pounds out of which School he supplied the Church of England with great store of learned men He was carefull to avoid not only all evil doing but even the lightest suspicions thereof And he was accounted a Saint in the judgements of his very enemies if he had any such Being full of faith unfained and of good works he was at the last put into his grave as a heap of wheat in due time swept into the garner He dyed the 4. of March 1583. and in the 66. year of his age RICHARD MULCASTER was born of an ancient extract in the North but whether in this County or Cumberland I find not decided From Eaton-school he went to Cambridge where he was admitted into Kings-colledge 1548. but before he was graduated removed to Oxford Here such his proficiency in learning that by general consent he was chosen the first Master of Merchant-Tailors-School in London which prospered well under his care as by the flourishing of Saint Johns in Oxford doth plainly appear The Merchant-Tailors finding his Scholars so to profit intended to fix Mr. Mulcaster as his Desk to their School till death should remove him This he perceiv'd and therefore gave for his Motto Fidelis servus perpetuus asinus But after twenty five years he procured his freedome or rather exchanged his service being made Master of Pauls-school His method in teaching was this In a morning he would exactly and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 the lessons to his Scholars which done he slept his hour custome made him critical to proportion it in his desk in the School but wo be to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 slept the while Awaking he heard them 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉 to pity as soon as he to pardon where he found just fault The 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Mothers prevailed with him as much as the requests of indulgent Fathers rather increasing then mitigating his severity on their offending child In a word he was Plagosus Orbilius though it may be truly said and safely for one out of his School that others have taught as much learning with fewer lashes Yet his sharpness was the better endured because unpartiall and many excellent Scholars were bred under him whereof Bishop Andrews was most remarkable Then quitting that place he was presented to the rich Parsoâ—…ge of Stanfórd-rivers in Essex I have heard from those who have heard him preach that his Sermons were not excellent which to me seems no wonder partly because there is a different discipline in teaching children and men partly because such who make Divinity not the choice of their youth but the refuge of their age seldome attain to eminency therein He died 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth CHRISTOPHER POTTER D. D. kinsman to Bishop Potter of whom before was born in this County 〈◊〉 Fellow of Queens-colledge in Oxford and at last was chosen Provost thereof Chapâ—…in in Ordinary to King Charles and Dean of 〈◊〉 One of a sweet nature â—…mely preâ—…ence courteous carriage devout life and deep learning he wrot an excellent book entituled Charity mistaken containing impregnable truth so that malice may sâ—…arl at but not bite it without breaking its own teeth Yet a railing Jesuit wrote a pretended 〈◊〉 thereof to which the Doctor mâ—…de no return partly because the industrious Bee would not meddle with a 〈◊〉 or Hornet rather partly because Mr. Chillingworth a great Master of defence in School-divinity took up the Cudgells against him This worthy Doctor died in the beginning of our civill distempers Benefactors to the Publique ROBERT LANGTON Doctors of Law MILES SPENCER Doctors of Law It is pity to part them being Natives of this County as I am credibly informed Doctors in the same faculâ—…y and Co-partners in the same Charity the building of a fair School at Appleby The Pregnant Mother of so many Eminent Scholars As for Robert Langton he was bred in and a Benefactor to Queens-â—…edge in Oxford owing the Glaseing of many Windows therein to his Beneficence Witness his Conceit to Communicate his Name to Posterity viz. a Ton the 〈◊〉 or Fancy Generall for all Sirnames in that Termination extended very long beyond an ordinary proportion Lang the Northern man pronounceth it whereby he conceived his Surname completed I shall be thankfull to him who shall enform me of the Dates of their severall deaths ANNE CLYFFORD sole Daughter heir to George Earl of Cumberland Wife first to Richard Earl of Dorset then to Phillip Earl of Pembrokâ—… and Montgomery though born and nursed in Hartfordshire yet because having her greatest Residence and Estate in the North is properly referrable to this County The Proverb is Homo non est ubi animat sed amat One is not to be reputed there where he lives but where he loves on which account this Lady is placed not where she first took life but where she hath left a most lasting Monument of her Love to the Publique This is that most beautifull Hospital Stately Built and Richly Endowed at her sole Cost at Appleby in this County It was conceived a bold and daring part of Thomas Cecill son to Treasurer Burghleigh to enjoyn his Masons and Carpenters not to omit a days Work at the building of Wimbleton house in Surrâ—…y though the Spanish Armado Anno 1588. all that while shot off their Guns whereof some might be heard to the Place But Christianly Valiant is the Charity of this Lady who in this Age wherein there is an Earthquake of Antient Hospitals and as for new ones they are hardly to be seen for New lights I say Couragious this Worthy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who dare found in this Confounding Age wherein so much was demolished and aâ—…ened which was given to God and his Church Long may she live in Wealth and 〈◊〉 exactly to Compleat whatâ—…oever her 〈◊〉 Intentions have 〈◊〉 Mâ—…morable Persons RICHARD GILPIN a Valiant Man in this County was 〈◊〉 offed in the Raign of K. John about the year 1208. in the Lordship of Kent-mire-â—…all by
precious extraction to King James reputed a great preserver of health and prolonger of life He is conceived by such helps to have added to his vigorous vivacity though I think a merry heart whereof he had a great measure was his best Elixar to that purpose He died exceeding aged Anno Dom. 164. JOHN BUCKRIDGE was born at Dracot nigh Marleborough in this County and bred under Master Mullcaster in Merchant-Taylors school from whence he was sent to Saint Johns-colledge in Oxford where from a Fellow he became Doctor of Divinity and President thereof He afterwards succeeded Doctor Lancelot Andrews in the Vicaridge of Saint Giles Criplegate in which Cure they lived one and twenty years a piece and indeed great was the Intimacy betwixt these two learned Prelates On the ninth of June 1611. he was Consecrated Bishop of Rochester and afterwards set forth a learned Book in opposition of John Fisher De potestate papae in Temporalibus of which my Author doth affirm Johannem itaque Roffensem habemus quem Johanni Roffensi opponamus Fishero Buckerigium cujus argumentis si quid ego video ne à mille quidem Fisheris unquam respondebitur He was afterwards preferred Bishop of Ely and having Preached the Funerall Sermon of Bishop Andrews extant in Print at the end of his works survived him not a full year dying Anno Dom. 163. He was decently Interred by his own appointment in the Parish-church of Bromly in Kent the Manner thereof belonged to the Bishoprick of Rotchester States-men EDWARD SEIMOR and THOMAS SEIMOR both Sons of Sir John Seimor of Wolfull Knight in this County I joyn them together because whilst they were united in affection they were invinsible but when devided easily overthrown by their enemies Edward Seimor Duke of Sommerset Lord Protector and Treasurer of England being the Elder Brother succeeded to a fair Paternal inheritance He was a valiant Souldier for Land-service fortunate and generally beloved by Martiall men He was of an open nature free from jealousie and dissembling affable to all People He married Anne Daughter of Sir Edward Stanhop knight a Lady of a high mind and haughty undaunted spirit Thomas Seimor the Younger Brother was made Barron of Sudley by offices and the favours of his Nephew K. Edward the sixth obtained a great Estate He was well experienced in Sea affairs and made Lord Admirall of England He lay at a close posture being of a reserved Nature and was more cunning in his Carriage He married Queen Katharine Parr the Widdow of King Henry the eighth Very great the Animosities betwixt their Wives the Dutchess refusing to bear the Queens Train and in effect justled with her for Precedence so that what betwixt the Train of the Queen and long Gown of the Dutchess they raised so much dust at the Court as at last put out the eyes of both their husbands and occasioned their Executions as we have largely declared in our Ecclesiasticall History The Lord Thomas Anno 154. The Lord Edward Anno 154. Thus the two best Bullworks of the safety of King Edward the sixth being demolished to the ground Duke Dudley had the advantage the nearer to approach and assault the Kings Person and to practice his destruction as is vehemently suspected Sir OLIVER SAINT JOHN Knight Lord Grandison c. was born of an ancient and honourable family whose prime seat was at Lediard-Tregoze in this County He was bred in the warrs from his youth and at last by King James was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland and vigorously pursued the principles of his Predecessours for the civilizing thereof Indeed the Lord Mountjoy reduced that Country to obedience the Lord Chichester to some civility and this Lord Grandison first advanced it to considerable profit to his Master I confess T. Walsingham writeth that Ireland afforded unto Edward the third thirty thousand pound a year paid into His Exchequer but it appears by the Irish-records which are rather to be believed that it was rather a burden and the constant revenue thereof beneath the third part of that proportion But now the Kingdome being peaceably settled the income thereof turned to good account so that Ireland called by my Author the Land of Ire for the constant broiles therein for 400. years was now become the Land of Concord Being re-called into England he lived many years in great repute and dying without issue left his Honour to his Sisters son by Sir Edward Villiers but the main of his estate to his Brothers son Sir John Saint John Knight and Baronet Sir JAMES LEY Knight and Baronet son of Henry Ley Esquire one of great Ancestry who on his own cost with his men valiantly served King Henry the eighth at the siedge of Bullen was born at Tafant in this County Being his fathers sixth son and so in probability barred of his inheritance he indeavoured to make himself an Heir by his Education applying his book in Brasen-nose-colledge and afterwards studying the Laws of the Land in Lincolns-Inn wherein such his proficiency King James made him Lord Chief Justice in Ireland Here he practised the charge King James gave him at his going over yea what his own tender Conscience gave himself namely Not to build his Estate on the ruines of a miserable Nation but aiming by the unpartial execution of Justice not to enrich himself but civilize the People he made a good Progress therein But the King would no longer lose him out of his own Land and therefore recalled him home about the time when his fathers inheritance by the death of his five elder brethren descended upon him It was not long before Offices and Honour flowed in fast upon him being made by King James King Charles 1. Aturney of the Court of Wards 2. Chief Justice of the Upper Bench 18. of his raign Jan. 29. 3. Lord Treasurer of England in the 22. of his raign Decemb. 22. 4. Baron Ley of Ley in Devonshire the last of the same Month. 1. Earl of Marleburg in this County immediately after the Kings Coronation 2. Lord President of the Councell in which place he died Anno Domini 1629. He was a person of great gravity ability and integrity and as the Caspian Sea is observed neither to ebb nor flow so his mind did not rise or fall but continued the same constancy in all conditions Sir FRANCIS COTTINGTON Knight was born nigh Meer in this County and bred when a youth under Sir ........ Stafford He lived so long in Spain till he made the garbe and gravity of that Nation become his and become him He raised himself by his naturall strength without any artificial advantage having his parts above his learning his experience above his parts his industry above his experience and some will say his success above all so that at the last he became Chancellour of the Exchequer Baron of Hanworth in Middlesex and upon the resignation of Doctor Juxon Lord Treasurer of England gaining also
Tattered Cowle a Shirt of Hair a Girdle of Hempe a Pair of Beads a Plain Crucifix and Picture of some Saint passed for all the wealth and Wardrobe of a Friar yet by hearing Feminine Confessions wherewith Wilton twitteth them and abusing the Key of Absolution they opened the Coffers of all the Treasure in the Land He wrot also a smart Book on this subject An validi Mendicantes sint in 〈◊〉 Perfectionis Whether Friars in health and Begging be in the state of perfection The Anti-Friarists maintaining that such were Rogues by the Laws of God and Man and fitter for the House of Correction then State of Perfection This Dean Wilton flourished Anno Dom. 1460. Since the Reformation WILLIAM HOREMAN was saith my Author Patria Sarisburiensis which in the Strictest sence may be rendred born in the City in the Largest born in the Diocess of Salisbury and in the Middle-sence which I most embrace born in Wiltshire the County wherein Salisbury is situated He was bred saith Bale first in Eaton then in Kings-colledge in Cambridge both which I doe not deny though propably not of the Foundation his name not appearing in the exact Catalogue thereof Returning to Eaton he was made Vice-Provost thereof where he spent the remainder of his 〈◊〉 He was one of the most Generall Scholars of his age as may appear by the Diffusiveness of his Learning and Books written in all Faculties Grammar  Of Orthography Poetry  Of the Quantities of penultime syllables History  A Chronicle with a Comment on some Index of most Chronicles Controversial Divinity A Comment on Gabriel Biel. Case  On the divorce of King Henry the eighth Hnsbandry  A Comment on Cato Varro Columella Palladius de Re Rusticâ Other books he left unfinished for which Bale sends forth a sorrowfull sigh with a Proh Dolor which his passion is proof enough for me to place this Horeman on this side of the line of Reformation He dyed April 12. 1535. and lieth buried in the Chappel of Eaton Masters of Musick WILLAM LAWES son of Thomas Lawes a Viâ—…ar Choral of the Church of Salisbury was bred in the Close of that City being from his Childhood inclined to Musick Edward Earl of Hertford obtained him from his Father and bred him of his own cost in that Faculty under his Master Giovanni Coperario an Italian and most Exquisite Musician Yet may it be said that the Schollar in time did Equal yea Exceed his Master He afterwards was of the Private Musick to King Charles and was respected and beloved of all such Persons who cast any looks towards Vertue and Honour Besides his Fancies of the three four five and six parts to Vyol and Organ he made above thirty severall sorts of Musick for Voyces and Instruments neither was there any Instrument then in use but he composed to it so aptly as if he had only studied that In these distracted times his Loyalty ingaged him in the War for his Lord and Master and though he was by Generall Gerrard made a Commissary on designe to secure him such Officers being commonly shot-free by their place as not Exposed to danger yet such the activity of his Spirit he disclaimed the Covert of his Office and betrayed thereunto by his own adventurousness was casually shot at the Siege of Chester the same time when the Lord Bernard Stuart lost his life Nor was the Kings soul so ingrossed with grâ—…ef for the death of so near a Kinsman and Noble a Lord but that hearing of the death of his dear servant William Laws he had a particular Mourning for him when dead whom he loved when living and commonly called the Father of Musick I leave the rest of his worth to be expressed by his own Works of Composures of Psalms done joyntly by him and his brother Master Henry Laws betwixt which two no difference either in Eminency Affection or otherwise considerable save that the one is deceased and the other still surviving Master William Laws dyed in September 164. Benefactours to the Publique T. STUMPS of the Town of Malmesbury in this County was in his Age one of the most eminent Clothiers in England of whom there passeth a story told with some variation of circumstances but generally to this purpose King Henry the eighth Hunting near Malmesbury in Bredon Forrest came with all his Court Train unexpected to Dine with this Clothier But great House-keepers are as seldome surprised with Guests as vigilant Captains with Enemies Stumps commands his little Army of Workmen which he fed daily in his house to fast one Meal untill night which they might easily doe without indangering their health and with the same Provision gave the King and his Court-train though not so delicious and various most wholesome and plentifull entertainment But more Authentick is what I read in the great Antiquary speaking of the plucking down of Malmesbury Monastery The very Minster it self should have sped no better then the rest but being Demolished had not T. Stumps a wealthy Clothier by much suit but with a greater summe of Money redeemed and bought it for the Iowns-men his Neighbours by whom it was converted to a Parish-church and for a great part is yet standing at this day I find one William Stumps Gentleman who in the one and thirtieth year of King Henry the eight bought of him the demeans of Malmesbury Abby for fifteen hundred pound two shillings and a half penny Now how he was related to this T. Stumps whether son or father is to me unknown It will not be a sin for me to wish more branches from such Stumps who by their bounty may preserve the Monuments of Antiquity from destruction Memorable Persons SUTTON of 〈◊〉 Tradition and an old Pamphlet newly vamped with Additions make him a great Clothier Entertaining King Henry the first and bequeathing at his death one hundred pounds to the Weavers of Salisbury with many other benefactions I dare not utterly deny such a person and his bountifull Gifts but am â—…ured that he is notoriously mis-timed seeing Salisbury had scarce a stone laid therein one hundred years after King Henry the first and as for old Sarum that age knew nothing of Clothing as we have proved before Thus these Mungrell Pamphlets part true part false doe most mischief Snakes are less dangerous then Lampries seeing none will feed on what is known to be poison But these books are most pernicious where truth and falshoods are blended together and such a Medly Cloth is the Tale-story of this Clothier MICHEL born at ........... in this County was Under-sheriffe to Sir Anthony Hungarford a worthy Knight Anno 1558. in the last year of Queen Mary Of this Master Michel I find this Character A right and a perfect godly man Under sheriffs generally are complained of as over-crafty to say no worse of them but it seems hereby the place doth not spoil the person but the person the
place When the Writ de comburendis haereticis for the Execution of Richard White and John Hunt of whom formerly was brought to Mr. Michel instead of burning them He burnt the Writ and before the same could be renewed Doctor Geffray the bloody Chancellour of Salisbury who procured it and Queen Mary were both dead to the Miraculous preservation of Gods poor Servants Sir JAMES Vicar Choral as I conceive of the Church of Sarisbury in the raign of King Edward the sixth was wholy addicted to the Study of Chemistry Now as Socrates himself wrot nothing whilst Plato his Scholar praised him to purpose so whilst the Pen of Sir James was silent of his own worth Thomas Charnock his Scholar whom he made Inheritour of his Art thus chants in his Commendation I could find never Man but one Which could teach Me the secrets of our Stone And that was a Priest in the Close of Salisbury God rest his Soul in Heaven full merry This Sir James pretented that he had all his skill not by Learning but Inspiration which I list not to disprove He was alive Anno 1555. but died about the beginning of Queen Elizabeth Lord Mayor Name Father Place Company Time Sir Nicholas Lambert Edward Lambert Wilton Grocer 1531 The Names of the Gentry of this County Returned by the Commissioners in the twelsth year of King Henry the sixth R. Bishop of Salisbury Commissioners to receive the Oaths Walt. Hungarford Knight Robert Andrew Knights for the Shire Robert Long. Knights for the Shire Rob. Hungarford mil. Edm. Hungarford m. Ioh. Stourton mil. Will. Becham mil. Ioh. Beynton mil. Will. Westbery Justiciarii Ioh. Seymour Will. Darell Rich. Milbourn Edm. Dantesey Ioh. Westbery sen. David Cerington Randul Thorp Lau. Gowayn Rog. Peryton Will. Gore sen. Roh Ernly Rob. Blake Tho. Drewe Will. Daungers Rob. Paniffote Ioh. Westbery junior Will. Rouse Tho. Boneham Iohan. Rous Will. Besyle Rob. Baynard Rog. Trewbody Will. Caynelt Will. Botreauxe Will. Widecombe Ioh. Atte Berwe Ioh. Northfolk Ioh. Sturmy Tho. Cryklade Rob. Bodenham Iohan. Bride Rob. Beast Cob. Colyngborn Hen. Chancy Ioh. Combe Ioh. West Rob. Onewyn Tho. Ierderd Ioh. Whitehorn Ioh. Gergrave Nich. Wotton Tho. Hall Ioh. Hall Rich. Hall Will. â—…ore 〈◊〉 Rob. Crikkelade Ioh. Lambard Tho. Beweshyn Rich. Mayn Ioh. Mayn Ioh. Benger Rob. Mayhow Hen. Bardley Rob. Confold Ioh. Mumfort Tho. Hancock Ioh. Osburn Ioh. Gillberd Ioh. Attuene Ioh. Escote Gul. Orum Rich. Soâ—…wel Reg. Croke Ingel Walrond Ioh. Waldrine Rich. Warrin Will. Stanter Rob. Solman Tho. Temse Will. Temse Tho. Ryngwode Will. Watkins Rob. Backeham Walt. Backeham Will. Dantesey Rich. Caynell Rich. Hardone Ioh. Tudworth Ioh. Coventre Tho. Gore nuper de Lynshyll Rob. Wayte Will. Coventre Ioh. Ingeham Ioh. Martyn Walt. Evererd Will. Polelchirch Ioh. Iustice Walt. Stodelâ—…y Will. Wychamton Rob. Eyre Ioh. Voxanger Sim. Eyre Ioh. Ford Will. Russell Ioh. Scot Tho. Vellard Pet. Duke Ioh. Quinton Tho. Quinton Ioh. Bourne Rich. Warneford Ioh. Stere Tho. Hasard Rob. Lyvenden Will. Lyng Ioh. Davy Rob. Davy Rob. Floure Will. Leder Ioh. Edward Ioh. Cutting Tho. Blanchard Will. Moun Edm. Penston Rich. Lye Ioh. Bellingdon Ioh. Pope Ioh. Lye Ioh. Spender Walt. Clerk Ioh. Quarly Will. Bacon Ioh. Everard Nich. Spondell Will. Walrond Tho. Stake Rich. Cordra Rich. de Bowys Will Renger Thom. Bower de Devise R. is here Robert Nevil then Bishop of Salisbury Walter Hungerford was the Lord Hungerford Treasurer of England WILL. WESTBRY Justiciarii Surely this Justice must be more then an Ordinary one of the Peace and Quorum because preposed to John Seimour a signall Esquire late High-sheriffe of the Shire Yet was he none of the two Chief-Justices of Westminster as not mentioned in their Catalogue Probably he was one of the Puny Judges in those Courts but because no certainty thereof we leave him as we found him DAVID CERINGTON The self same name with Sherington for all the literall variation and they I assure you were men of great Anchestry and Estate in this County Sir Henry Sherington was the last Heir-male of this Family dwelling at Lacock in this County a Right Godly Knight and great friend to Bishop Jewell who died in his house at Lacock He disswaded the Bishop from Preaching that Lords-day by reason of his great Weakness Affirming it better for a Private Congregation to want a Sermon one day then for the Church of England to lose such a Light for ever But he could not prevail the Bishop being resolved to expire in his calling This Sir Henry left two Daughters which had Issue one married into the Honourable family of Talbot the other unto Sir Anthony Mildmay who enriched their Husbands with great Estates Sheriffs of Wilt-shire HEN. II. Anno 1 Will. qui fuit Vic. Anno 2 Com. Patricius Anno 3 Idem Anno 4 Anno 5 Idem Anno 6 Anno 7 Rich. Clericus Anno 8 Idem Anno 9 Mil. de Dantesaia Anno 10 Rich. de Wilton Anno 11 Rich. de Wilteser Anno 12 Rich. de Wilton for 15 years Anno 27 Mich. Belet Rob. Malde Anno 28 Mich. Belet Rob. Malde Rog. filius Reuf Anno 29 Rob. Malduit Anno 30 Idem Anno 31 Idem Anno 32 Rob. Malduit Anno 33 Idem RICH. I. Anno 1 Hug. Bardulfe Anno 2 Will. Comes Saresb. Anno 3 Rob. de Tresgoze Anno 4 Will. Comes Saresb. Anno 5 Will. Comes Saresb. Tho. filius Will. for 4 years Anno 9 Steph. de Turnham Alex. de Ros Anno 10 Idem JOHAN REX Anno 1 Steph. de Turnham Wand filius Corcelles Anno 2 Comes Will. de Saresb. Hen. de Bermere Anno 3 â—…dem Anno 4 Idem Anno 5 Comes Will. de Saresb. Iohan. Bonet for 6 years Anno 11 Will. Briewere Rob. filius Anno 12 Idem Anno 13 Nich. Briewere de Vetri ponte Will de Chanto Anno 14 Idem Anno 15 Idem Anno 16 Will Comes Saresb. Hen. filius Alchi Anno 17 Idem HEN. III. Anno 1 Anno 2 Will. Comes Saresb. Rob. de Crevequeor for 6 years Anno 8 Will. Comes Saresb. Adam de Alta Ripa Anno 9 Idem Anno 10 Idem Anno 11 Sim. de Halei Anno 12 Eliz. Comit. Saresb. Ioh. Dacus Anno 13 Ioh. de Monemue Walt. de Bumesey Anno 14 Ioh. de Monemue Anno 15 Idem Anno 16 Eliz. Com. Saresb. Ioh. Dacus for 4 years Anno 20 Eliz. Comit. Sarum Rob. de Hugen Anno 21 Eliz. Comit. Sarum Anno 22 Rob. de Hogesham Anno 23 Idem Anno 24 Idem Anno 25 Nich. de Haversham for 6 years Anno 31 Nich de Lusceshall Anno 32 Idem Anno 33 Idem Anno 34 Will. de Tynehiden for 4 years Anno 38 Will. de Tenhide Io. de Tenhide fil Here 's Anno 39 Idem Anno 40 Ioh. de Verurd Anno 41 Idem Anno 42 Idem Anno 43 Ioh. de Verund Galf. de Scudemor Anno 44 Idem Anno 45 Ioh. de Verund
Lampreys but of excess in eating them and I am confident the Jews might surfet of Manna it self if eating thereof above due proportion Perry This is a Drink or a Counterfeit Wine made of Pears whereof plenty in this County though such which are least delicious for tast are most proper for this purpose Such the Providence of Nature to design all things for mans service Peter Martyr when Professor in Oxford and sick of a Feaver would drink no other liquor though it be generally believed both cold and windy except corrected with spice or some other addition Salt I have twice formerly insisted hereon and doe confess this Repetition to be flatly against my own Rules laid down for the regulating of this work save that the necessity of this Commodity will excuse it from any offence I beheld England as a long well-furnish'd Table and account three principal Salt-cellars set at distance thereon Worcester shire I fancy the Trencher Salt both because it is not so much in quantity though very considerable and because it is whiter finer and heavier then any other Châ—…shire I conceive deserveth to be reputed the Grand-salt-cellar placed somewhat beneaâ—…h the middle whilst the third is the Salt of New-castle set far North at the lower end of the Table for the use of those who otherwise cannot conveniently reach to the former The usefulness of this not-duely-valued-blessing may be concluded from the Latine word Salarium so usuall in antient and modern Authors which importeth the entertainment or wages of Souldiers antiently paid chiefly if not only in Victuals and taketh its name by a Synecdoche fr om Sal or Salt as of all things most absolutely needfull without which condiment nothing can be wholesome nutriment I read in a modern Author describing his own County of Che-shire and measuring all things to the advantage thereof that There is no Shire in England or in any other Country beyond the seas where they have more then one salt-well therein neither at Droitwich in Worcester-shire is there more then one whereas in Che-shire there be four all within ten wiles together Here let me enter this Caveat in preservation of the right of Worcester-shire that many salt-fountains are found therein but stopped up again for the preservation of woods so that the making of salt at one place alone proceeds not from any Natural but a Politick restriction Nor must I forget how our German-Ancestors as Tacitus reports conceited such places where salt was found to be nearest to the heavens and to ingratiate mens pâ—…ayers to the gods I will not say founding their superstition on the mis-apprehension of the Jewish-worship Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt The Buildings I am sorry I have never seen the Cathedrall of Worcester so that I cannot knowingly give it a due commendation and more sorry to hear that our late Civil Wars have made so sad an Impression thereon The Market-towns are generally handsomely built and no Shire in England can shew a brace of them so neat and near together as Beaudley and Kiddermister in this County being scarcely two miles asunder Saints Saint RICHARD born at Wich alias Droitwich from which he took his name was bred in Oxford afterwards at Paris lastly at Bononia in Italy where for seven years together he heard and read the Canon-law Having thus first plentifully laid in he then began to lay out in his Lectures in that University and returning Home became Chancellor of Oxford then of Canterbury till at last chosen Bishop of Chichester He was a great Becketist viz. a stout opposer of Regal Power over Spiritual Persons on which and other accounts he wrot a Book to Pope Innocent the fourth against King Henry the third These his qualities with the reputation of his holy life so commended his memory to the notice of Pope Urban the fourth that seven years after his death viz. Anno 1260 he canonized him for a Saint It seems men then arrived sooner at the maturity oâ—… Popish Saintship then now a days more distance being now required betwixt their death and canonization As for their report that the Wiches or Salt-pits in this County were miraculously procured by his prayers their unsavory lye hath not a graine of probability to season it it appearing by antient Authors that salt-wâ—…ter flowed there time out of mind beâ—…ore any sweet-milk was given by Mother or Nurse to this Saint Richard This County affording no Martyrs such the moderation of Bshop Pates let us proceed to Cardinals JOHN COMIN or Cumin It must cost us some pains but the merit of the man will quit cost to clear him to be of English extraction For the proof whereof we produce the testimony of Giraldus Cambrensis his contemporary and acquaintance who saith he was Viâ—… Anglicus natione Hereby the impudent falsehood of John Demster the Scotish Historian doth plainly appear thus expressing himself Johannes Cuminus ex nobilissimo Comitum Buchaniae stemmate ortus Banfiae natus falsissimè inter Anglos reponitur cum ipse viderim quaedam ipsius nuper Parisiis scripta quibus suorum Popularium causam Pontifici Lucio commendavit in bibliotheca Pauli Petavii Senatoris Parisiensis John Cumin descended from the most noble stock of the Earls of Buchan born at Banfe is most falsely set down amongst the English seeing I my self lately saw some of his writings at Paris in the Library of Paulus Petavius Senator of Paris in which he recommended the cause of his Countrimen to Pope Lucius In plain English this Scotish Demster is an arrant rook depluming England Ireland and Wales of famous Writers meerly to feather his own Country therewith so that should he according to the Jewish Law be forced to make four-fold restitution for his felony he would be left poor enough indeed Besides Alexander Comin was Created first Earl of Buchan by King Alexander the second who began to raign Anno Dom. 1214. whereas Comin by the testimony of Demster himself died 1212. and therefore could not properly descend of their stock who were not then in being I cannot certainly avouch him a Worcester-shire man but know that he was bred a Monke at Evesham therein whence he was chosen the King procuring it à clero Dublinensi consonè satis concorditer Arch-bishop of Dublin He endowed Trinity-Church in Dublin with two and twenty Prebends and was made by Pope Lucius Cardinal of Saint Vellit in Italy HUGH of EVESHAM so called from the place of his Nativity in this County applyed himself to the Study of Physick with so good success that he is called the Phoenix in that Faculty Great also was his skill in the Mathematicks and especially in Astrology Some questions arising at Rome about Physick which consequencially were of Church government Pope Martin the fourth sent for our Hugh to consult with him who gave such satisfaction to his Demands that in requitall he Created him Cardinal
of Saint Laurence 1280. But so great the envy of his Adversaries at his preferment that seven years after he was put to death by Poyson and let none say he might have foreseen his Fate in the Stars seeing Hell and not the Heavens brooded that design Neither say Physician cure thy self seeing English Antidotes are too weak for Italian Poysons But Cicaonius to Palliate the business saith he died of the Plague and thus I believe him of the Plague of Hatred in the hearts of such who contrived his death Which happened Anno Domini 1287. Prelates WULSTAN of BRAUNDSFOED was born at Brandsford in this County and afterwards became Prior equivalent to Dean in other foundations of Worcester He deserved well of his Covent building a most beautifull Hall therein Hence was he preferred Bishop of Worcester 1338. the first and last Prelate who was born in that County and dyed in that See He was Verus Pontifex in the gramaticall notation thereof building a fair bridge at Braundsford within three miles of Worcester over the river Teme on the same token that it is misprinted Tweed in Bishop Godwin which made me in vain to look for Braundsford in Northumberland He dyed August 28. 1349. JOHN LOWE was born in this County bred an Augustinian Frier at Wich therein afterwards he went to the Universities and then setled himself in London Hence he was preferred by King Henry the sixth to Saint Asaph and thence was removed desiring his own quietness from one of the best Bishopricks in Wales to Rochester the meanest in England He was a great Book-monger and on that score Bale no friend to Friers giveth him a large Testimonial that Bishop Godwin borroweth from him the first and last in that kind the whole character of his commendation and this amongst the rest Opuscula quaedam scripsit purgatis auribus digna He deserved well of posterity in preserving many excellent manuscripts and bestowing them on the Magnificent Library which he furnished at Saint Augustines in London But alas that Library at the Dissolution vanished away with the fine Spire-steeple of the same Church oh the wide swallow of sacriledge one person who shall be nameless imbezelling both books and buildings to his private profit He dyed Anno Dom. 1467. and lieth buried in his own Cathedral over against Bishop Merton under a Marble monument EDMUND BONNER alias SAVAGE He had to his Father John Savage a Priest richly beneficed and landed in Cheshire son to Sir John Savage Knight of the Garter and Privy Councellor to King Henry the seventh His Mother Concubine to this Priest a dainty dame in her youth a jolly woman in her age was sent out of Cheshire to cover her shame and lay down her burthen at Elmeley in this County where this bouncing babe Bonner was born The history of his life may be methodized according to the five Princes under whom he lived He was born under King Henry the seventh and bred a Batchelor in the Laws in Broadgates-hall in Oxford Under King Henry the eight he was made Doctor of Laws Arch-deacon of Leicester Master of the faculties under Arch-bishop Cranmer and employed in severall Embassies beyond Seas All this time Bonner was not Bonner being as yet meek mercifull and a great Cromwellite as appeared by some tart printed Repartees betwixt him and Bishop Gardiner Indeed he had sesqui corpus a Body and Halfe but I hope that Corpulency without Cruelty is no sin towards his old age he was over-grown with fat as Master Fox who is charged to have persecuted Persecutors with ugly pictures doth represent him Not long after he was consecrated Bishop of London Under King Edward the sixth being deputed to preach publickly concerning the Reformation his faint and frigid expressions thereof manifested his mind rather to betray then defend it which cost him a deprivation and imprisonment Then it was when one jeeringly saluted him Good morrow Bishop quondam to whom Bonner as tartly returned Good morrow Knave semper Being restored under Queen Mary to his Bishoprick he caused the death of twice as many Martyrs as all the Bishops in England besides justly occasioning the verses made upon him Si fas caedendo caelestia scandere cuiquam Bonnero coeli maxima porta patet NEMO ad BONNERUM Omnes Episcopum esse te dicunt malum Ego tamen Bonnere te dico bonum If one by shedding blood for bliss may hope Heavens widest gate for Bonner doth stand op'e NO BODY speaking to BONNER All call thee cruell and the spunge of blood But Bonner I say thou art mild and good Under Queen Elizabeth he was deprived and secured in his Castle I mean the Marshallsea in Southwark for as that prison kept him from doing hurt to others it kept others from doing hurt to him being so universally odious he had been stoned in the streets if at liberty One great good he did though not intentionally accidentally to the Protestant Bishops of England For lying in the Marshalsea and refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy tendred to him by Horn then Bishop of Winchester he pleaded for himself that Horn was no lawfull Bishop which occasioned the ensuing Parliament to confirme him and the rest of his order to all purposes and intents After ten years soft durance in all plenty his face would be deposed for his whole body that he was not famished enjoying a great temporall Estate left him by his Father He dyed 1569. and was buried saith Bishop Godwin in Barking Church-yard amongst the theeves and murderers being surely a mistake in the Printer Allhallows Barking being on the other side the Thames nothing relating to the Marshalsea And I have been credibly informed that he was buried in the Church-yard of S. Georges in Southwark But so long as Bonner is dead let him chuse his own grave where he will be buried But enough if not too much of this Herostratus who burnt so many living temples of the Holy Ghost and who had he not been remembred by other writers had found no place in my history Since the Reformation JOHN WATSON was born at Bengeworth in this County where some of his name and relations remain at this day bred I believe in Oxford and afterwards became Prebendary then Dean of Winchester Hence he was advanced Bishop of that See and the ensuing passage which I expect will meet with many infidels though to me credibly attested will acquaint us with the occasion thereof and suspecting the Bishoprick of Winchester when vacant would be offered unto him Dean Watson aged sixty years and desirous to lead a private life in the sickness of Bishop Horn privately promised the Earl of Leicester in that Age the Dominus fac multum if not totum in the disposall of Church Dignities two hundred pounds that he might not be made Bishop of Winchester but remain in his present condition The Bishoprick falling void and the Queen
Commodity in this County not â—…ormerly omitted by me but pretermited till this Occasion Sure it is that the finest though this may seem a word of Challenge Cloth of England is made at Worcester and such I believe was that which Erasmus that great Critick who knew fine Cloth as well as pure Latine is calleth Pannus Britannicus Lempster Wool in the neighboring County of Hereford being here made into Pardon the Prolepsis till it be died the purest Scarlet YORK-SHIRE YORK-SHIRE hath the Bishoprick of Durham and Westmer land on the North Lancashire and a snip of Cheshire on the West Derby Notingham and Lincolnshire divided by Humber on the South and the German Ocean on the East thereof It extendeth without any Angular advantages unto a square of fourscore and ten miles adequate in all Dimensions unto the Dukedome of Wirtenberg in Germany Yea on due consideration I am confident that all the seven United Provinces cannot present such a square of solid Continent without any Sea interposed One may call and justify this to be the best Shire of England and that not by the help of the generall Katachresis of Good for Great a good blow good piece c. but in the proper acception thereof If in Tullies Orations all being excellent that is adjudged optima quae longissima the best which is the longest then by the same proportion this Shire partaking in goodness alike with others must be allowed the best Seeing Devonshire it self the next in largeness wisely sensible of the visible inequality betwixt them quits all claimes of corrivality as a case desperate and acknowledgeth this as Paramont in greatness Indeed though other Counties have more of the Warm Sun this hath as much as any of God's temporall blessings So that let a Survayer set his Center at Ponâ—…fract or thereabouts and take thence the Circumference of twenty miles he there will meet with a tract of ground not exceeded for any nor equalled for the goodness and plenty of some Commodities I would term it the Garden of England save because it is so far from the Mansion House I mean the City of London Insomuch that such sullen dispositions who do not desire to go thither only because of the great distance the same if settled there would not desire to come thence such the delight and pleasure therein Most true it is that when King Henry the eight Anno 1548. made his Progress to York Doctor Tonstall Bishop of Durham then attending on him shewed the King a Valley being then some few miles North of Doncaster which the Bishop avowed to be the richest that ever he found in all his travails thorough Europe For within 10. miles of Hasselwood the seat of the Vavasors there were 165. Mannor houses of Lords Knights and Gentlemen of the best quality 275. Severall Woods whereof some of them contain five hundred Acres 32. Parks and two Chases of Dear 120. Rivers and Brooks whereof Five be Navigable well stored with Salmon and other Fish 76. Water-mills for the Grinding of Corn on the aforesaid Rivers 25. Cole-mines which yield abundance of Fuell for the whole County 3. Forges for the making of Iron and Stone enough for the same And within the same limits as much sport and pleasure for Hunting Hawking Fishing and Fowling as in any place of England besides Naturall Commodities Geat A word of the name colour vertues and usefulness thereof In Latine it is called Gagates as different in nature as alike in name to the precious stone called Gagites onely found in an Eagles nest whence our English word Geat is deduced But be it remembred that the Agate vastly distinct from Geat is also named Gagates It is found in this County towards the sea side in the clefts of the rocks whose gaping chaps are filled up therewith It is naturally of a reddish and rusty colour till it becomes black and bright by polishing Indeed the lustre consists in the blackness thereof Negroes have their beauties as well as fair folk and vulgar eyes confound the inlayings made of black Marble polished to the height with Touch Geat and Ebony though the three former be stones the last a kind of wood The vertues of Geat are hitherto conceal'd It is the lightest of all solid not porous stones and may pass for the Embleme of our memories attracting trifles thereto and letting slip matters of more moment Rings are made thereof fine foyles to fair fingers and bracelets with beads here used for Ornament beyond sea for Devotion also small utensills as Salt-cellars and the like But hear how a Poet describes it Nascitur in Lycia lapis a prope gemma Gagates Sed geâ—…us eximium faecunda Britania mittit Lucidus niger est levis laevicssimusi idem Vicinas paleas trahit attritu calefactus Ardet aquâ lotus restinguitur unctus olivo Geat a stone and kind of gemm In Lycia grows but best of them Most fruitfull Britain sends 't is bright And black and smooth and very light If rubb'd to heat it easily draws Unto it self both chaffe and straws Water makes it fiercely flame Oyle doth quickly quench the same The two last qualities some conceive to agree better to our sea-coal then Geat whence it is that some stiffly maintain that those are the Brittish Gagates meant by forraign Authors and indeed if preciousness of stones be measured not from their price and rarity but usefulness they may be accounted precious But hereof formerly in the Bishoprick of Durham Alume This was first found out nigh Geâ—…burgh in this County some sixty years since by that worthy and learned Knight Sir Thomas Chaloner Tutor to Prince Henry on this occasion He observed the leaves of trees there abouts more deeply green then elsewhere the Oakes broad-spreading but not deep-rooted with much strength but little sap the earth clayish variously coloured here White there Yellowish there Blew and the ways therein in a clear night glistering like glass symptoms which first suggested unto him the presumption of Minerals and of Alum most properly Yet some years interceded betwixt the discovery and perfecting thereof some of the Gentry of the Vicinage burying their estates here under earth before the Alum could be brought to its true consistency Yea all things could not fadge with them untill they had brought not to say stolÅ„ over three prime workmen in Hogsheads from Rochel in France whereof one Lambert Russell by name and a Walloon by birth not long since deceased But when the work was ended it was adjudged a Mine Royal and came at last to be rented by Sir Paul Pindar who paid yearly To The King 12500. The Earl of Moulgrave 01640. Sir William Penniman 00600. Besides large salaries to numerous Clarks and daily wages to Rubbish-men Rockmen Pit-men and House-men or Fire-men so that at one time when the Mines were in their Majesty I am credibly informed he had in pay no fewer then eight hundred by sea and land
a spring of a Vitrioline tast and Odour It was discovered by one Master Slingsby about the year 1620. and is conceived to run paralell with the Spaw waters in Germany Not far off is a sulphur-well which hath also the qualities of saltness and bitterness The stench whereof though offensive Patients may hold their nose and take wholesome physick is recompenced by the vertues thereof Insomuch as my Author saith It heateth and quickneth the stomack bowels liver spleen blood veynes nerves and indeed the whole body insomuch that it consumes crudities rectifieth all cold distempers in all parts of the body causeth a good digestion cureth the dropsy spleen scurvy green-sickness gout And here it is high time to hold still for if this last be true let that disease which formerly was called dedecus medicinae be hereafter termed decus fontis Knaresburgensis In the same parish over against the Castle the river Nid running betwixt ariseth a spring which runneth a little way in an entire streame till dammed at the brow of the discent with ragged rocks it is divided into severall trickling branches whereof some drop some streame down partly over partly through a jetting rock this is called the Petrifying well how grammatically I will not engage because it converteth spungy substances into stone or crusteth them over round about We must not forget Saint Mungus his Well which some have slighted as an ineffectuall superstitious relique of Popery whilst others maintain it hath regained its reputation and is of Soveraign vertue Some will have the name thereof mistaken for Saint Magnus which in my opinion was rather so called from Saint Mungo Kentigernus in Latine a Scotish Saint and much honoured in these Northern parts I believe no place in England can shew four springs so near in scituation so distant in operation Such as desire to know more of the nature and use of these springs of the time manner and quantity wherein the Waters are to be taken and how the Patient is to be dieted for his greater advantage may inform themselves by perusing two small Treatise one set forth Anno 1626. by Edmund Dean Doctor of Physick living in York called Spadsacrena Anglica The other written some six years since by John French Doctor of Physick and is very satisfactory on that subject The Buildings The Church of Beverly is much commended for a fine Fabrick and I shall have a more proper occasion to speak hereafter of the Collegiate Church in Rippon but amongst antient Civil Structures we muâ—… not forget Wreseâ—… Castle It is sealed in the Confluence of Derwent and Owse In what plight it is now I know not but hear how Leland commendeth it in his Itinerary through this County It is built of square stone which some say was brought out of France it hath four fair Towers one at each corner and a Gatehouse wherein are Chambers five stories high which maketh the fifth In Lelands time it looked as new built though then 100. years old as being erected by the Lord Percy Earl of Winchester in the raign of King Richard the second Without the Walls but within the Mote gardens done Opere Topiario In a word he termeth it one of the properest buildings North of Trent But that which most affected him was a study in an eight square Tower called Paradise furnished with curious and convenient Deskes loaden with variety of choice books but as Noahs floud is generally believed of learned men to have discomposed the Paradise in Eden so I shrewdly suspect that the Deluge of time hath much impaired if not wholly defaced so beautifull a building then belonging to the Earl of Northumberland Amongst many fine and fair Houses now extant in this County we hear the highest commendation of Maulton late the house of the Lord Euers Proverbs From Hell Hull and Halifax deliver us This is part of the Beggars and Vagrants Letany Of these three frightfull things unto them it is to be feared that they least fear the first conceiting it the furthest from them Hull is terrible unto them as a Town of good government where Vagrants meet with Punitive Charity and 't is to be feared are oftner Corrected then Amended Halifax is formidable unto them for the Law thereof whereby Theeves taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the very Act of stealing of cloath are instantly beheaded with an Engine without any further Legal Proceedings A Scarborough warning That is none at all but a sâ—…dain surprize when a mischief is felt before it be suspected This Proverbe is but of 104. years standing taking its Originall from Thomas Stafford who in the raign of Queen Mary Anno 1557. with a small company seized on Scarborough-castle utterly distitute of provision for resistance before the Towns-men had the least notice of his approach However within six days by the industry of the Earl of Westmerland he was taken brought to London and Beheaded So that since the Proverb accepteth a secondary but no genuine sense and a Scarborough-warning may be a Caveat to any how he undertaketh a treacherous design But if any conceive this Proverbe of more antient original fetching it from the custome of Scarborough-castle in former times with which it was not a word and a blow but a blow before and without a word as using to shoot ships which passed by and strook not sail and so warning and harming them both together I can retain mine own without opposing their opinion As true Steel as Rippon Rowels It is said of trusty Persons men of metall faithfull in their imployments Spurs are a principal part of Knightly Hatchments yea a Poet observes The Lands that over Ouze to Barwick forth doe bear Have for their Blazon had the Snaffle Spur and Spear Indeed the best Spurs of England are made at Rippon a famous Town in this County whose rowels may be inforced to strike through a Shilling and will break sooner then bow However the horses in this County are generally so good they prevent the Spurs or answer unto them a good sign of thrifty metall for continuance An Yorkshire * way-Bit That is an Over-plus not accounted in the reckoning which sometime proveth as much as all the rest Ask a Country-man here on the high-way how far it is to such a Town and they commonly return So many miles and a way-bit which way-bit is enough to make the wearied Travailer surfet of the length thereof If such over-measure be allowed to all Yards Bushels c. in 〈◊〉 Shire the Poor therein have no cause to complain of their penny-worths in buying any Commodities But hitherto we have run along with common report and false spelling the way not to win the race and now return to the starting place again It is not Way-bit though generally so pronounced but Wee-bit a pure Yorkshirisme which is a small bit in the Northern Language Merry Wakefield What peculiar cause of mirth this Town hath above others I doe
Palmes-sunday before his Majesty Anno Domini 1539. And yet man is but man he returned to his errour in the raign of King Edward the sixth continuing therein in the first of Queen Elizabeth for which he was deprived of his Bishoprick He shewed mercy when in Power and found it in his Adversity having nothing but the Name of a prisoner in which condition he died and was buried at Lambeth 1560. RALPH BAINES was born in this County bred Fellow of Saint Johns-colledge in Cambridge An Excellent Linguist in Latine Greek and Hebrew I say Hebrew then in its Nonage whereof Baines was a good Guardian first in learning then in teaching the Rules thereof Hence he went over into France and became Hebrew Professor at Paris He wrot a Comment on the Proverbs in three Volumes and dedicated it to King Franc is the first of France that Grand Patron of good Men and great Scholars Pitz telleth us ferunt it is reported that the Ministers of Geneva have much depraved many of his writings in severall places which I doe not believe Such passages doubtlesly according to the Authors own writing being reducible to two Heads First his fair mentioning of some learned Linguists though Protestants with whom he kept an Epistolary Correspondency Secondly some expressions in preferring the Original of Scripture to the Diminution of the Vulgar Translation Returning into England he was by Queen Mary 1555 made Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Hitherto no ill could be spoken of his Intellectualls and hereafter no good of his Moralls in point of his Cruelty he caused such persecution in his Diocess His greatest Commendation is that though as bad a Bishop as Christopher son he was better then Bonner In the first of Queen Elizabeth he was deprived of his Bishoprick and dying not long after of the Stone was buried in Saint Dunstans 1560. Since the Reformation THOMAS BENTHAM was born in this County bred Fellow of Magdalen-colledge in Oxford Under King Henry the eight he was a Complier with no Promoter of Popery In the first of Queen Mary repenting of his former he resolved not to accumulate sin refusing not onely to say Mass but also to correct a scholar in the Colledge though urged thereto by Sir Robert Reed the Prime Visitor for his absence from Popish Prayers conceiving it injurious to punish in another that omission for a fault which was also according to his own Conscience He also then assisted Henry Bull one of the same Foundation to wrest out and throw down out of the hands of the Choristers the Censer when about to offer their superstitious Incense No wonder then if he was fain to fly into Forraign parts and glad to get over into Germany where he lived at Basil Preacher to the English Exiles to whom he expounded the intire book of the Acts of the Apostles Now seeing the Apostles suffering was above all their Doing it was a proper portion of Scripture for him hence to press patience to his banished Country-men Towards the end of Queen Mary he was secretly sent for over to be superintendent of the London Conventicle the onely true Church in time of Persecution where with all his Care and Caution he hardly escaped In the second of Queen Elizabeth he was Consecrated Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield succeeding Ralph Baines therein one of the same County with him but a different Judgement and died on the 21. of February 1578. EDMUND GUEST was born at Afferton in this County bred Fellow of Kings-colledge in Cambridge where he proceeded Doctor of Divinity He was afterwards Almoner to Queen Elizabeth and he must be both a wise and a good man whom she would trust with her Purse She preferred him Bishop first of Rochester then of Salisbury John Bale saith my Author reckoneth up many books made by him of considerable value He died February 28. 1578. the same year and month with his Country-man Thomas Bentham aforesaid MILES COVERDALE was born in this County bred in the University of Cambridge and afterwards became an Augustine Frier till his eyes being opened he quitted that Superstitious Profession Going into Germany he laboured greatly in Translating of the Bible and in writing many books reckoned up by John Bale He was made Doctor of Divinity in the University of Tubing and returning into England being incorporated in Cambridge was soon after made Bishop of Exeter by King Edward the sixth 1551. But alas he was not comfortably warme in his place before his place by persecution grew too hot for him and in the first of Queen Mary he was cast into prison a certain forerunner of his Martyrdome had not Frederick King of Denmark seasonably interposed This good King with great Importunity hardly obtained this small Courtesie viz. that Coverdale should be enlarged though on this condition to be banished out of hâ—…s Country In obedience whereunto he went over into Germany In the first of Qâ—…een Elizabeth he returned to England but not to Exeter Never resuming that or accepting any other Bishoprick Severall men assigned severall causes hereof but Coverdale onely knew the true reason himself Some will say that for the Books he made he had better been placed under the title of Learned Writers or for the Exile and Imprisonment he suffered ranked under Confessors then under the title of Prelats manifesting an aversness of his own judgement thereunto by not returning to his Bishoprick But be it known that Coverdale in his judgement approved thereof Being one of those Bishops who solemnly Consecrated Mathew Parker Arch-bishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Now quod efficit tale magis est tale I understand it thus He that makes another Arch-bishop is abundantly satisfyed in his Judgement and Conscience of the lawfullness thereof Otherwise such dissembling had been inconsistent with the sincerity of so grave and godly a person He died Anno Dom. 1588. and lyes buried in Saint Bartholomews behind the Exchange under a fair Stone in the Chancell ADAM LOFTUS was born in this County and bred in Trinity-colledge in Cambridge where he Commenced Doctor of Divinity the same year with John Whitgift afterwards Arch-bishop of Canterbury He was Chaplain to Robert Earl of Sussex Deputy of Ireland and was first made Arch-bishop of Armagh Anno 1562. and afterwards Arch-bishop of Dublin Anno 1567. Wonder not that he should desire his own degradation to be removed from Armagh then Primate of Ireland to Dublin a Subordinate Arch bishoprick seeing herein he consulted his safety and perchance his profit more then his Honour Armagh being then infested with Rebells whilst Dublin was a secure City After the death of Sir William Gerrard he was made Chancellour of Ireland which place he discharged with singular Ability and Integrity untill the day of his death And that which in my judgement commendeth him most to the notice of Posterity and most ingageth Posterity in thankfullness to his memory is that he was a profitable
Daughter Frances Countess of Warwick scatter her Benesactions the thicker in that place But I have been informed that his Ancestor by some accident came out of Cornwell where his Name is right Antient. He was bred in the study of our Municipall Law and such his proficiency therein that in the sixteenth of Queen Elizabeth in Michaelmas Term he was made Lord Chief Justice of the Kings-bench He was not like that Judge who feared neither God nor man but onely one Widow lest her importunity should weary him but he heartily feared God in his Religious Conversation Each man he respected in his due distance off of the Bench and no man on it to biass his judgement He was pro tempore Lord Privy Seal and sate Chief in the Court when Secretary Davison was sentenced in the Star Chamber Sir Christopher collecting the censures of all the Commissioners concurred to Fine him but with this Comfortable conclusion that as it was in the Queens power to have him punished so Her Highness might be prevailed with for mitigating or remitting of the Fine and this our Judge may be presumed no ill instrument in the procuring thereof He bountifully reflected on Magdalen-colledge in Cambridge which infant Foundation had otherwise been starved at nurse for want of maintenance We know who saith * the righteous man leaveth an inheritance to his Childrens Children and the well thriving of his third Generation may be an evidence of his well-gotten goods This worthy Judge died May the eighth in the thirty fourth of Queen Elizabeth States Men. Pardon Reader my post poning this Topick of States-Men being necessitated to stay a while for further information Sir JOHN PUCKERING Kt. was born at Flamborough head in this County as I have learned out of the Notes of that industrious and judicious Antiquary Mr. Dodâ—…worth He was second Son to his Father a Gentleman who left him neither plentiful nor penurious estate his breeding was more beneficial to him than his portion gaining thereby such skill in the Common Law that he became Queens-Serjeant Speaker in the House of Commons and at last Lord Chancellor of England How he stood in his judgement in the point of Church-Discipline plainly appeareth by his following Speech delivered in the House of Lords 1588. the Original whereof was courteously communicated unto me And especially you are commanded by Her Majesty to take heed that no eare be given nor time afforded to the wearisome solicitations of those that commonly be called Puritans wherewithal the late Parliaments have been exceedingly importuned which sort of men whilest that in the giddiness of their Spirits they labour and strive to advance a new Eldership they do nothing else but disturb the good repose of the Church and Commonwealth which is as well grounded for the body of Religion it self and as well guided for the Discipline as any Realm that prosesseth the Truth and the same thing is already made good to the world by many the writings of Godly and Learned men neither answered nor answerable by any of these new fangled Refiners And as the present case standeth it may be doubted whether they or the Jesuits do offer more danger or be more speedily to be repressed For albeit the Jesuites do empoison the hearts of her Majesties Subjects under a pretext of Conscience to withdraw them from their obedience due to Her Majesty Yet do they the same but closely and only in privy corners But these men do both teach and publish in their printed Books â—…nd teach in all their Conventicles sundry opinions not only dangerous to the well-setled Estate and Policy of the Realm by putting a Pique between the Clergy and the Laâ—…ty But also much derogatory to Her Saâ—…red Majesty and Her Crown as well by the diminution of her ancient and lawfull Revenues and by denying her Highness Prerogative and Supremacy as by offâ—…ng peril to her Majesties safety in her own Kingdom In all which things however in other points they pretend to be at war with the Popish Jesuites yet by this separation of themselves from the unity of their Fellow-Subjects and by abasing the Sacred Authority and Majesty of their Prince they do both joyn and concur with the Jesuites in opening the door and preparing the way to the Spanish Invasion that is threatned against the Realm And thus having according to the weaknesse of my best understanding delivered Her Majesties Royal pleasure and wise direction I rest there with humble suit for Her Majesties most gracious pardon in supply of my defects and recommend you to the Author of all good counsel He died Anno Domini 1596. caractered by Mr. Cambden VIR INTEGER His estate is since descended according to the solemn settlement thereof the male-issue failing on Sir Henry Newton who according to the condition hath assumed the Surâ—…name of Puckering and I can never be sufficiently thankful to him and his Relations Sir GEORGE CALVERT Kt. was born at Kiplin near Richmond in this County had his education first in Trinity Colledge in Oxford then beyond the Seas His abilities commended him first to be Secretary to Robert Cecil Earl of Sarisbury Lord Treasurer of England Afterwards he was made Clerk of the Councel and at last principal Secretary of State to King James succeeding Sir Thomas Lakes in that office Anno 1619. Conceiving the Duke of Buckingham highly instrumental in his preferment he presented him with a Jewel of great value which the Duke returned him again not owning any activity in his advancement whom King James ex mero motu reflecting on his ability designed for the place This place he discharged above five years until he willingly resigned the same 1624. on this occasion He freely confessed himself to the King That he was then become a Roman Catholick so that he must either be wanting to his Trust on violate his Consolence in discharging his office This his ingenuity so highly affected King James that he continued him Privy Councellor all his raign as appeareth in the Councel-Book and soon after created him Lord Baltemore of Baltemore in Ireland During his being Secretary he had a Patent to him and his Heirs to be Absolutus Dominus Proprietarius with the Royalties of a Count Palatine of the Province of Avalon in New-found-Land A place so named by him in imitation of old Avalon in Somerset shire wherein Glassenbury stands the first fruits of Christianity in Britain as the other was in that part of America Here he built a fair House in Ferry Land and spent five and twenty thousand pounds in advancing the Plantation thereof Indeed his publick spirit consulted not his private profit but the enlargement of Christianity and the Kings Dominions After the death of King James he went twice in person to New found-Land Here when Mounsier de l'Arade with three Men of War sent from the King of France had reduced our English Fishermen to great extremity This Lord with two Ships manned at
his own charge chased away the French-man relieved the English and took sixâ—…y of the French Prisoners He removed afterwards to Virginia to view those parts and afterwards came into England and obtained from King Charles who had as great an esteem of and affection for him as King James a Patent to him and his Heirs for Mary-land on the North of Virginia with the same Title and Royalties conferred on him as in Avalon aforesaid now a hopeful Plantation peopled with eight thousand English souls which in processe of time may prove more advantagious to our Nation Being returned into England he died in London April 15. 1632. in the 53. year of his age lying buried in the Chancel of S. Dunstans in the West leaving his Son the Right Honourable Cecil Calvert now Lord Baltemore heir to his Honour Estate and Noble Disposition THOMAS WENTWORTH Earl of Strafford Deputy though Son to William Wentworth of Wentworth-Woodhouse in this County Esq at his Sons birth afterward Baronet yet because born in Chancery-Lane and Christned April 22. Anno 1593. in Saint Dunstans in the West hath his Character in London Seamen ARMIGELL WAAD born of an ancient Family in York-shire as I am informed from his Epitaph on his monument at Hampstead in Midlesex wherein he is termed Hen. 8. Edw. 6. Regum Secretiori consilio ab epistolis which I took the boldnesse to interpret not Secretary but Clerk of the Councel Take the rest as it followeth in his Funeral Inscription Qui in maximarum Artium disciplinis prudentiaque civili instructissimus plurimarum linguarum callentissimus legationibus honoratissimis perfunctus inter Britannos Indicarum Americarum explorator primus Indeed he was the first Englishman that discovered America and his several voyages are largely described in Mr. Hackluite his Travels This English COLUMBUS had by two Wives twenty Children whereof Sir William Waad was the eldest a very able Gentleman and Clerk of the Councel to Queen Elizabeth This Armigel died June 20. 1568. and was buried as is aforesaid MARTIN FROBISHER Kt. was born nigh Doncaster in this County I note this the rather because learned Mr. Carpenter in his Geography recounts him amongst the famous men of Devonshire But why should Devon-shire which hath a flock of Worthies of her own take a Lamb from another County because much conversing therein He was from his youth bred up in Navigation and was the first Englishman that discovered the North way to China and Cathai whence he brought great store of black soft Stone supposing it Silver or Gold Ore but which upon trial with great expence prov'd uselesse yet will no wise man laugh at his mistake because in such experiments they shall never hit the mark who are not content to 〈◊〉 it He was very valiant but withal harsh and violent faults which may be dispensed with in one of his profèssion and our Chronicles loudly resouâ—…d his signal service in Eighty Eight for which he was Knighted His last service was the defending of Brest-Haven in Britain with ten ships against a far greater power of Spaniards Here he was shot into the side the wound not being mortal in it self But Swords and Guâ—…s have not made more mortal wounds than Probes in the hands of carelesse and skillesse Chirurgeons as here it came to passe The Chirurgeon took out only the Bullet and left the bumbast about it behind wherewith the sore festered and the worthy Knight died at Plimoâ—…th Anno 1594. GEORGE CLIFFORD Lord Clifford Vescye c. Earl of Cumberland was son to Henry second Earl of that Family by his second Lady a person wholly composed of true Honour and Valour whereof he gave the world a clear and large demonstration It was resolved by the judicious in that age the way to humble the Spanish greatnesse was not by pinching and pricking him in the Low-Countries which only emptied his veins of such blood as was quickly re-filled But the way to make it a Cripple for ever was by cutting off the Spanish sinews of War his Money from the West Indies In order whereunto this Earl set forth a small Fleet at his own cost and adventured his own person therein being the best born Englishman that ever hazarded himselfe in that kind His Fleet may be said to be bound for no other Harbour but the Port of Honour though touching at the Port of Profit in passage thereunto I say touching whose design was not to enrich himself but impoverish the enemy He was as merciful as valiant the best metal bows best and left impressions of both in all places where he came Queen Elizabeth Anno 1592. honoured him with the dignity of the Garter When King James came first out of Scotland to York he attended him with such an equipage of Followers for number and habit that he seemed rather a King than Earl of Cumberland Here happened a contest between the Earl and the Lord President of the North about carrying the Sword before the King in York which office upon due search and enquiry was adjudged to the Earl as belonging unto him and whilest Cliffords Tower is standing in York that Family will never be therein forgotten His Anagram was as really as litterally true Georgius Cliffordius Cumberlandius Doridis regno clarus cum vi fâ—…lgebis He died 1605. leaving one Daughter and Heir the Lady Anne married to the Earl of Dorset of whom hereafter Physicians Sir GEORGE RIPLEY whether Knight or Priest not so soon decided was undoubtedly born at Ripley in this County though some have wrongfully entituled Surry to his Naâ—…vity That York-shire was the place of his birth will be evidenced by his relation of Kindred reckoned up by himself viz. 1. 〈◊〉 2. Ripleâ—… 3. Madlay 4. VVilloughby 5. Burham 6. VVaterton 7. Flemming 8. Talboyes Families found in York-shire and Lincoln-shire but if sought for in Surrey to be met with at Nonesuch Secondly it appeareth by his preferment being Canon of Bridlington in this County and to clear all In patria Eboracensi saith my Author But Philemon Holland hath not only erroniously misplaced but which is worse opprobriously miscalled him in his description of Surrey In the next Village of Ripley was born G. de Ripley a ringleader of our Alchimists and a mystical Impostor Words not appearing in the Latine Britannia and therefore Holland herein no Translator of Cambden but traducer of Ripley Leaving this Land he went over into Italy and there studied twenty years together in pursuance of the Philosophers Stone and â—…ound it in the year 1470. as some collect from those his words then written in his Book Juveni quem diligit anima mea spoken by the Spouse Cant. 3. 4. so bold is he with Scripture in that kind An English Gentleman of good credit reported that in his travels abroad he saw a Record in the Isle of Malta which declares that Sir George Ripley gave yearly to those Knights of Rhodes
Brachyography was not then nor many years after invented But he though a quick Scribe is but a dull one who is good only at fac simile to transcribe out of an original whereas our Robert left many Books of his own making to posterity He flourished Anno Dom. 1180. and lleth buried before the Doors of the Cloyster of his Convent PETER of Rippon was Canon of that Colledge built antiently therein by Saint Wilfred purposely omitted by us in our Catalogue of Saints to expiate our former tediousnesse concerning him in our Church History Jeoffry Archbishop of York not only delighted in but doted on our Peter He wrote a Book of the life and miracles of Saint Wilfred How many suspected persons did prick their credits who could not thread his Needle This was a narrow place in his Church and kind of Purgatory save that no fire therein through which chaste Persons might easily passe whilest the Incontinent did stick therein beheld generally as a piece of Monkish Legerdemain I am sorry to hear that this Collegiate Church one of the most ancient and famous Churches in the North of England hath the means and allowance appointed for the repair thereof deteined and more â—…orry that on the eighth of December 1660. a violent wind blew down the great Steeple thereof which with its fall beaâ—… down the Chancel the onely place where the people could assemble for Divine Worship and much shattered and weakened the rest of the Fabrick and I hope that His Majesties Letters Patents will meet with such bountiful contributions as will make convenient Reparation Our Peter flourished Anno 1190. under King Richard the first WILLIAM of NEWBOROUGH was born at Bridlington in this County but named of Newborough not far off in which Monastery he became a Canon Regular He also was called Petit or Little from his low stature in him the observation was verified that little men in whom their heat is most contracted are soon angry flying so fiercely on the memory of Geffrey of Monmouth taxing his British Chronicle as a continuâ—…d fiction translated by him indeed but whence from his own Brain to his own Pen by his own Invention Yea he denieth that there was ever a King Arthur and in effect overthroweth all the Welsh History But learned Leland conceives this William Little greatly guilty in his ill language which to any Author was uncivil to a Bishop unreverent to a dead Bishop uncharitable Some resolve all his passion on a point of meer revenge heartily offended because David Prince of Wales denied him to succeed G. Monmouth in the See of St. Asaph and therefore fell he so soul on the whose Welsh Nation Sure I am that this angry William so censorious of G. Monmouth his falsehoods hath most foul slips of his own Pen as when he affirmeth That in the place of the slaughter of the English nigh Battaile in Sussex if peradventure it be wet with any small showre presently the ground thereabouts sweateth forth very blood though indeed it be no more than what is daily seen in Rutland after any sudden rain where the ground floweth with a reddish moisture He flourished Anno 1200. under King John ROGER HOVEDEN was born in this County of the Illustrious Family of the Hovedens saith my Author bred first in the study of the Civil then of the Canon-Law and at last being servant to King Henry the second he became a most accomplished Courtier He is the chiefest if not sole Lay-Historian of his age who being neither Priest nor Monk wrote a Chronicle of England beginning where Bede ended and continuing the same until the fourth of King John When King Edward the first layed claim to the Crown of Scotland he caused the Chronicles of thâ—…s Roger to be diligently searched and carefully kept many Authentical passages therein tending to his present advantage This Roger flourished in the year of our Lord 1204. JOHN of HALIFAX commonly called De SACRO BOSCO was born in that Town so famous for Cloathing bred first in Oxford then in Paris being the prime Mathematician of his age All Students of Astronomy enter into that Art through the Door of his Book De â—…phaerâ He lived much beloved died more lamented and was buried with a solemn Funeral on the publick cost of the University of Paris Anno 1256. ROBERTUS PERSCRUTATOR or ROBERT the SEARCHER was born in this County bred a Dominican great Mathematician and Philosopher He got the sirname of Searcher because he was in the constant quest and pursuit of the Mysteries of Nature A thing very commendable if the matters we seek for and means we seek with be warrantable Yea Solomon himself on the same account might be entituled Searcher who by his own confession Applyed his heart to know and to Search and to seek out wisdome and the reason of things But curiosity is a kernel of the forbidden fruit which still sticketh in the throat of a natural man sometimes to the danger of his choaking it is heavily laid to the charge of our Robert that he did light his Candle from the Devils Torch to seek after such secrets as he did desire witnesse his Work of Ceremonial Magick which a conscientious Christian would send the same way with the Ephesian conjuring Books and make them fuel for the fire However in that age he obtained the reputation of a great Scholar flourishing under King Edward the second 1326. THOMAS CASTLEFORD born in this County was bred a Benedictine in Pâ—…mfraict whereof he wrote a History from ASK a Saxon first owner thereof to the Lacies from whom that large Lordship descended to the Earls of Lancaster I could wish some able Pen in Pomfraict would continue this Chronicle to our time and give us the particulars of the late memorable siege that though the Castle be demolished the Fame thereof may remain Leland freely confesseth that he learnt more then he looked for by reading Castlefords History promising to give a larger account thereof in a Book he intended to write of Civil History and which I suspect he never set forth prevented by death Our Castleford flourished about the year of our Lord 1326. JOHN GOWER was born saith Leland at Stitenham in the North Riding in Bulmore Wapentake of a Knightly Family He was bred in London a Student of the Laws till prizing his pleasure above his profit he quitted Pleading to follow Poetry He was the first refiner of our English Tongue effecting much but endeavouring more therein Thus he who sees the Whelp of a Bear but half lickt will commend it for a comely Creature in comparison of what it was when first brought forth Indeed Gower left our English Tongue very bad but â—…ound it very very bad Bale makes him Equitem auratâ—…m Poetam Laureatum proving both from his Ornaments on his monumental Statue in Saint Mary Overies Southwark Yet he appeareth there neither laureated nor hederated Poet except
Soon after more then 60. Royalists of prime quality removed themselves beyond the Seas so that hencefor ward the Kings affairs in the North were in a languishing condition The Farewell As I am glad to hear the plenty of a courser kind of Cloth is made in this County at Halifax Leeds and elsewhere whereby the meaner sort are much imployed and the middle sort inriched So I am sorry for the generall complaints made thereof Insomuch that it is become a generall by word to shrink as Northern Cloth a Giant to the eye and Dwarf in the use thereof to signify such who fail their Friends in deepest distress depending on their assistance Sad that the Sheep the Embleme of Innocence should unwillingly cover so much craft under the woo◅ thereof and sadder that Fullers commended in Scripture for making cloth white should justly be condemned for making their own Consciences black by such fraudulent practices I hope this fault for the future will be amended in this County and elsewhere For sure it is that the transporting of wooll and Fullers-earth both against Law beyond the Seas are not more prejudiciall to our English cloathing abroad then the deceit in making cloth at home debasing the Forraign estimation of our Cloth to the unvaluable damage of our Nation YORK is an Antient City built on both sides of the River Ouse conjoyned with a Bridge wherein there is one Arch the highest and largest in England Here the Roman Emperors had their residence Severus and Valerius Constantius their death preferring this place before London as more approaching the Center of this Island and he who will hold the Ox-hide from rising up on either side must fix his Foot in the middle thereof What it lacketh of London in Bigness and Beauty of Buildings it hath in Cheapness and Plenty of Provisions The Ordinary in York will make a Feast in London and such Persons who in their Eating consult both their Purse and Palate would chuse this City as the Staple place of good chear Manufactures It challengeth none peculiar to it self and the Forraign Trade is like their River compared with the Thames low and little Yet send they course Cloth to Ha◅orough and have Iron Flax and other Dutch Commodities in return But the Trade which indeed is but driven on at York runneth of it self at Hull which of a Fishers Town is become a Cities fellow within three hundred years being the Key of the North. I presume this Key though not new made is well mended and the Wards of the Lock much altered since it shut out our Soveraign from entering therein The Buildings The Cathedrall in this City answereth the Character which a forraign Author giveth it Templum opere magnitudine toto orbe memorandum the work of John Romaine Willam Melton and John Thoresbury Successive Arch-bishops thereof The Family of the Percyes contributing Timber of the Valvasors Stone thereunto Appending to this Cathedrall is the Chapter-house such a Master piece of Art that this Golden verse understand it written in Golden Letters is ingraved therein Ut Rosa Flos Florum sic est Domus ista Domorū Of Flowers that grow the Flower 's the Rose All Houses so this House out-goes Now as it follows not that the Usurping Tulip is better then the Rose because preferred by some Forraign Fancies before it so is it as inconsequent that Mod◅h Italian Churches are better then this Reverent Magnificent Structure because some humorous Travailors are so pleased to esteem them One may justly wonder how this Church whose Edifice Woods designed by the Devotion of former ages for the repair thereof were lately sold should consist in so good a condition But as we read that God made all those to pity his Children who carried them captive so I am informed that some who had this Cath◅drall in their command favourably reflected hereon and not onely permitted but procured the repair thereof and no doubt he doth sleep the more comfortably and will die the more quietly for the same Proverbs Lincoln was London is and York shall be Though this be rather a Prophesie then a Proverb yet because something Proverbiall therein it must not be omitted It might as well be placed in Lincoln shire or Middlesex yet if there be any truth therein because Men generally worship the Rising Sun blame me not if here I onely take notice thereof That Lincoln was namely a far Fairer Greater Richer City then now it is doth plainly appear by the ruins thereof being without controversie the greatest City in the Kingdome of Mercia That London is we know that York shall be God knows If no more be meant but that York hereafter shall be in a better condition then now it is some may believe and m◅re doe d◅sire it Indeed this Place was in a Fair way of Preferment because of the convenient Scituation thereof when England and Scotland were first United into GreatB◅itain But as for those who hope it shall be the English Metropolis they must wait untill the River of Thames run under the great Arch of Ouse-bridge However York shall be that is shall be York still as it was before Saints FLACCUS ALBINUS more commonly called Alcuinus was born say some nigh London say others in York the later being more Probable because befriended with his Northern Education under Venerable Bede and his advancement in York Here he so pl◅d the well furnished Library therein much praised by him that he distilled it into himself so great and generall his knowledge Bale ranketh him the third Englishman for Learning placing Bede and Adelme before him and our Alcuinus his Humilt◅y is contented with the place though he be called up higher by the judgements of others Hence he travailed beyond the Seas and what Aristotle was to Alexander he was to Charles the first Emperour Yea Charles owed unto him the best part of his Title The Great being made Great in Arts and Learning by his Instructions This Alcuinus was the Founder of the University in Paris so that whatsoever the French brag to the contrary and slight our Nation their Learning was Lumen de Lumine nostro and a Tapor lighted at our Torch When I seriously peruse the Orthography of his Name I call to mind an Anagram which the Papists made of Reverend Calvin bragging like boys for finding of a Bees when it proves but a Hornets Nest I mean Triumphing in the sweetness of their conceit though there be nothing but a malitious sting therein CALVINUS LUCIANUS And now they think they have Nicked the Good man to Purpose because Lucianus w◅s notoriously known for an Atheist and Grand Scoffer at the Christian Religion A silly and spirefull Fancy seeing there were many Lucians worthy Persons in the Primitive ◅imes amongst whom the chief one Presbyter of Antioch and Martyr under Dio◅sian so Famous to Posterity for his Translation of the Bible Besides the same literall allusion is
found in the name of ALCUINUS LUCIANUS Thus these Nominall Curiosities whether they hit or miss the Mark equally import nothing to Judicious Beholders He was made first Abbot of Saint Augustines in Canterbury and afterward of Saint Martins in the City of Towers in France and dying Anno 780 he was buried in a small Convent appendant to his Monastery He is here entred under the Topick of Saints because though never solemnly canonized he well deserved the Honor His Subjects said to David Thou art worth ten Thousand of us and though I will not ascend to so high a Proportion many of the Modern Saints in the Church of Rome must modestly confess that on a Due and True estimate our Alcuinus was worth many Scores of them at least so great his Learning and holy his Conversation SEWALL had his Nativity probably in these Parts But he was bred in Oxford and was a Scholar to St. Edmund who was wont to say to him Sewald Sewald thou wilt have many Afflictions and dye a Martyr Nor did he miss much of his mark therein though he met with Peace and Plenty at first when Arch-bishop of York The occasion of his Trouble was when the Pope plenitudine potestatis intruded one Jordan an Italian to be Dean of York whose Surprised Installing Sewald stoutly opposed Yea at this time there were in England no fewer then three Hundred Benefices possessed by Italians where the People might say to them as the Eunuch to Philip How can we understand without an â—…nterpreter Yea which was far worse they did not onely not teach in the Church but mis-teach by their lascivious and debauched behaviour Asfor our Sewald Mathew Paris saith plainly that he would not bow his Knee to Baal so that for this his contempt he was excommunicated and cursed by Bell Book and Candle though it was not the Bell of Aarons Garment nor Book of Scripture nor the Candle of an Unpartiall Judgement This brak his heart and his Memory lyeth in an Intricate posture peculiar almost to himself betwixt Martyr and no Martyr a Saint and no Saint Sure it is â—…ewall though dying excommunicated in the Romish is reputed Saint in Vulgar estimation and some will maintain that the Popes solemn Canonization is no more requisite to the making of a Saint then the Opening of a Manâ—… Windows is necessary to the lustre of the Sun Sewald died Anno Dom. 1258. Bale who assumeth liberty to himself to surname Old-writers at his pleasure is pleased to Addition this worthy man Sewaldus Magnanimus Martyrs VALENTINE FREESE and his Wife were both of them born in this City and both gave their lives therein at one Stake for the testimony of Jesus Christ Anno Domini 1531. Probably by order from Edward Lee the cruell Arch-bishop I cannot readily call to mind a man and his wife thus Marryed together in Martyrdome And begin to grow confident that this Couple was the first and laâ—… in this kind Confessors EDWARD FREESE brother to the aforesaid Valentine was born in York and there a Prentice to a Painter He was afterwards a Novice-Monke and leaving his Convent came to Colchester in Essex Here his hereticall Inclination as then accounted discovered it self in some sentences of Scripture which he Painted in the Borders of Cloths for which he was brought before John Stoaksley Bishop of London from whom he found such cruell usage as is above belief Master Fox saith that he was fed with Manchet made of Saw-dust or at the least a great part thereof and kept so long in Prison Manicled by the wrests till the Flesh had overgrown his Irons and he not able to kembe his own head became so distracted that being brought before the Bishop he could say nothing but my Lord is a good man A sad sight to his Friends and a sinfull one to his Foes who first made him mad and then made mirth at his madness I confess distraction is not mentioned in that list of losses reckoned up by our Saviour He that left his House or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for my sake c. But seeing his wits is nearer and dearer to any man then his wealth and seeing what is so lost may be said to be left no doubt this poor mans distraction was by God gratiously accepted on his enemies severely punished and to him mercifully rewarded We must not forget how the wife of this Edward Freese being big with child and pressing in to see her husband the Porter at Fulham gave her such a kick on the belly that the child was destroyed with that stroke immediately and she died afterwards of the same Prelates JOHN ROMAN so called because his Father was born in Rome though living a long time in this City being Treasurer of the Cathedrall therein and I conjecture this John his Son born in York because so Indulgent thereunto For generally Pure Pute Italians preferred in England transmitted the gain they got by Bills of Exchange or otherwise into their own Country and those outlandisâ—… Mules though lying down in English Pasture left no Hairs behind them Whereas this Roman had such Affection for York that being advanced Arch-bishop he began to build the Body of the Church and finished the North Part of the Cross-Isle therein Polydore Virgil praised him no wonder that an Italiaâ—… commended a Roman for a Man of great Learning and Sincerity He fell into the disfavour of King Edward the first for Excommunicating Anthony Beck Bishop of Durham and it cost him four thousand marks to regain his Princes Good Will He died Anno Domini 1295. And let none grudge his Buriaâ—… in the best Place of the Church who was so Bountifull a Builder thereof ROBERT WALBEY born in this City was therein bred an Augâ—…stinian Friar he afterwards went over into France where he so applied his studies that at last he was chosen Divinity Professor in the City of Tholouse he was Chaplain to the black Prince after his death to his Father K. Edward the third Now as his Mr. injoyed three Crowns so under him in his three Kingdoms this his Chaplain did partake successively of three Miters being first a Bishop in Gascoine then Arch-bishop of Dublin in Ireland afterwards Bishop of Chichester in England not grudging to be degraded in Dignity to be preferred in profit At last he was consecrated Arch-bishop of York and was the first and last Native which that City saw the least of Infants and in his Time when Man the greatest therein Yet he enjoyed his place but a short time dying May 29. Anno Domini 1397. Since the Reformation THOMAS MORTON was born Anno 1564. in the City of York whose father Richard Morton allyed to Cardinall Morton Arch bishop of Canterbury was a Mercer I have been informed the first of that calling in that City sure of such repute that no Mercers
VVales want them To conclude some will wonder how Perfect coming from Perficere to do throughly and Perfunctorie derived from Perfungi throughly to discharge should have so Opposite Senses My Motto in the description of this Principality is betwixt them both Nec Perfectè Nec Perfunctorie For as I will not pretend to the Credit of the former so may I defend my self from the shame of the latter having done the utmost which the Strength of my Weakness could perform WALES THIS PRINCIPALITY hath the Severn Sea on the South Irish-Ocean on the West and North England on the East antiently divided from it by the River Severn since by a Ditch drawn with much Art and Industry from the Mouth of Dee to the Mouth of Wie From East to West Wie to Saint Davids is an hundred from North to South Carâ—…ion to Hollihead is an hundred and twenty miles The Ditch or Trench lately mentioned is called Clauhd-Offa because made by King Offa who cruelly enacted that what Welch-man soever was found on the East-side of this Ditch should forfeit his Right-hand A Law long since Cancelled and for many ages past the Welch have come peaceably over that Place and good reason bringing with them both their Right-hands and Right-hearts no less Loyally then Valiantly to defend England against alâ—… enemies being themselves under the same Soveraign United thereunto It consisteth of three parts the partition being made by â—…oderick the great about the year 877. dividing it betwixt his three sons 1. North-Wales Whose Princes chiefly Resided at 1. Aberfrow 2. Mathravall 3. Dynefar 2. Powis 3. South-Wales This division in fine proved the Confusion of Wales whose Princes were always at War not onely against the English their Common Foe but mutually with themselves to enlarge or defend their Dominions Of these three North-wales was the chief as doth plainly appear first because Roderick left it Mervin his Eldest Son Secondly because the Princes thereof were by way of Eminency stiled the Princes of Wales and sometimes Kings of Aberfrow Thirdly because as the King of Aberfrow paid to the King of London yearly Threescore and three pounds by way of Tribute so the same summe was paid to him by the Princes of Powis and South-wales However South-wales was of the three the Larger Richer Fruitfuller therefore called by the Welsh Deheubarth that is The Right-side because nearer the Sun But that Country being constantly infested with the Invasions of the English and Flemings had North-wales preferred before it as more intire and better secured from such annoyances Hence it was that whilst the Welsh-tongue in the South is so much mingled and corrupted in North-wales it still retaineth the purity thereof The Soil It is not so Champion and Levell and by consequence not so fruitfull as England mostly rising up into Hills and Mountains of a lean and hungry nature yet so that the ill quality of the ground is recompenced by the good quantity thereof A right worshipfull Knight in Wales who had a fair Estate therein his rents resulting from much Barren-ground heard an English Gentleman perchance out of intended opposition to brag that he had in England so much ground worth forty shillings an Acre you said he have ten yards of Velvet and I have teâ—… score of Frize I will not exchange with you This is generally true of all Wales that much ground doth make up the Rent and yet in proportion they may lose nothing thereby compared to Estates in other Countries However there are in Wales most pleasant Meadows along the sides of Rivers and as the sweetest flesh is said to be nearest the bones so most delicious vallies aâ—…e interposed betwixt these Mountains But now how much these very Mountains advantage the Natives thereof in their Health Strength Swiftness Wit and other naturall Perfections Give me leave to stand by silent whilst a great Master of Language and Reason entertaineth the Reader with this most excellent and pertinent discourse Carpenters Geography second Book chap. 15. pag. 258. This conceit of Mounsieur Bodin I admit without any great contradiction were he not over-peremptory in over-much censuring all Mountainous people of Blockishness and Barbarisme against the opinion of Averroes a great Writer who finding these People nearer Heaven suspected in them a more Heavenly Nature Neither want there many reasons drawn from Nature and Experiment to prove Mountainous People more pregnant in Wit and Gifts of understanding then others inhabiting in low and plain Countries For however Wit and Valour are many times divided as we have shewn in the Northern and Southern people yet were they never so much at variance but they would sometimes meet First therefore what can speak more for the witty temper of the Mountain People then their clear and subtile Aire being far more purged and rarified then that in Lower countries For holding the Vital spirits to be the chiefest Instruments in the Souls Operation no man can deny but that they sympathize with the Aire especially their chiefest foment Every man may by experience find his Intellectuall Operations more Vigorous in a Clear day and on the contrary most Dull and Heavy when the Aire is any way affected with foggy vapours What we find in our selves in the same place at divers seasons may we much more expect of places diversly affected in Constitution A second reason for the proof of our assertion may be drawn from the Thin and spare Diet in respect of those others For people living of Plains have commonly all Commodities in such plenty that they are subject to surfeiting and luxury the greatest Enemy and Underminer of all Intellectuall Operations For a fat Belly commonly begets a gross Head and a lean Brain But want and scarcity the Mother of Frugality invites the Mountain-dwellers to a more sparing and wholesome Diet. Neither grows this conveniency only out of the scarcity of Viands but also out of the Dyet Birds Fowls Beasts which are bred upon higher places are esteemed of a more Cleanly and wholsome feeding then others living in Fens and Foggy Places And how far the Quality of our Dyet prevails in the Alteration of our Organs and Dispositions every Naturalist will easily resolve us A third reason may be drawn from the cold Aire of these Mountainous Regions which by an Antiperistasis keeps in and strengthens the Internall heat the chief instrument in Natural and Vital Operations For who perceives not his Vital and by consequence his Intellectuall Parts in cold frosty weather to be more strong and vigorous then in hot and soultry seasons wherein the spirits be dâ—…faced and weakned This disparity in the same region at divers times in regard of the disposition of the Aire may easily declare the disparity of divers Regions being in this sort diversly affected A fourth reason may be taken from the Custome and Hardness whereunto such people inure themselves from their infancy which as Huartus proves begets a better temper of the Brain in
because they need not Neighbours whose numerous Families can subsist of themselves Or else their Ambition is therein reproved singling out Desolate Places for themselves because scorning to take that Fruitfulness which Nature doth tender and desireing as it were to be Petty-Creators enforcing Artificiall Fertility on a place where they found none before I* well knew that wealthy Man who being a great improves of ground was wont to say that he would never come into that place which might not be made better On the same token that one tartly returned that then he would never go to Heaven for that place was at the best But the truth is Fertilizing of barren ground may be termed a Charitable Curiosity employing many poor people therein It is confessed that Wales affordeth plenty of barren places yielding the benefit of the best Aire but the Italian humor of building hath not affected not to say infected the British Nation I say the Italian-humor who have a merry Proverb Let him that would be happy for a Day go to the Barber for a Week marry a Wife for a Month buy him a New-horse for a Year build him a New-house for all his Life-time be an Honest-man But it seems that the Welsh are not tempted to enjoy such short happiness for a years continuance For their Buildings generally they are like those of the old Britains neither big nor beautifull but such as their Ancestors in this Isle formerly lived in For when Cataracus that valiant British Generall who for nine years resisted here the Romans puissance after his Captivity and Imprisonment was inlarged and carried about to see the Magnificence of Rome Why do you said he fo greedily desire our poor Cottages whereas you have such stately and magnificent Palaces of your own The simplicity of their common building for private persons may be conjectured by the Palaces of their Princes For Hoelldha Prince of Wales about the year 800. built a house for his own residence of White-hurdells or Watling therefore called Ty Gwin that is the White-house or Whitehall if you please However there are brave buildings in Wales though not Welsh buildings many stately Castles which the English erected therein And though such of them as survive at this day may now be beheld as Beauties they were first intended as bridles to their Country Otherwise their private houses are very mean indeed Probably they have read what Master Camden writes that the building of great houses was the bane of good house-keeping in England and therefore they are contented with the worse habitations as loath to lose their beloved hospitality The rather because it hath been observed that such Welsh buildings as conforme to the English mode have their Chimneys though more Convenient less Charitable seeing as fewer eyes are offended fewer bellies are fed with the smoaking thereof But though the Lone-houses in Wales be worse then those in England their Market-towns generally are built better then ours the Gentry it seems having many of their habitations therein The Proverbs These are twofold 1. Such as the English pass on the Welsh 2. Such as the Welsh make on the English The latter come not under my cognizance as being in the British Tongue to me altogether unknown Besides my friend Master James Howel in a Treatise on that Subject hath so feasted his Reader that he hath starved such as shall come after him for want of New Provisions As for the former sort of Proverbs we insist on one or two of them His Welsh Blood is up A double reason may be rendred why the Welsh are subject to anger 1. Moral Give losers leave to speak and that passionately too They have lost their land and we Englishmen have driven their Ancestors out of a fruitfull Country and pend them up in Barren Mountains 2. Naturall Choler having a Predominancy in their Constitution which soundeth nothing to their disgrace Impiger Iracundus is the beginning of the Character of Achilles himself Yea Valour would want an Edge if Anger were not a Whetstone unto it And as it is an Increaser of Courage it is an Attendantâ—…n â—…n Wit Ingeniosi sunt Cholerici The best is the anger of the Welsh doth soon arise and soon abate as if it were an Embleme of their Country up down chequered with Elevations and Depressions As long as a Welsh pedigree Men who are made Heralds in other Countries are born Heralds in Wales so naturally are all there inclined to know and keep their descents which they derive from great antiquity so that any Welsh-gentleman if this be not a Tautology can presently clime up by the stairs of his pedigree into princely extraction I confess some English-men make a mock of their long pedigree whose own perchance are short enough if well examined I cannot but commend their care in preserving the memory of their Ancestors conformable herein to the custome of the Hebrews The worst I wish their long pedigree is broad possessions that so there may be the better symmetry betwixt their extractions and estates Give your horse a Welch-bait It seems it is the custome of the Welsh travailers when they have climed up a hill whereof plenty in these parts to rain their horses backward and stand still a while taking a prospect or respect rather of the Country they have passed This they call a bait and though a Peck of Oates would doe the palfrey more good such a stop doth though not feed refresh Others call this a Scotish-bait and I believe the horses of both mountainous Countries eat the same provender out of the same manger on the same occasion Proceed we now to our Description and must make use in the first place of a generall Catalogue of such who were undoubtedly Welsh yet we cannot with any certainty refer them to their respective Counties and no wonder 1. Because they carry not in their Sur names any directions to their nativities as the antient English generally and especially the Clergy did till lately when conquered by the English some conformed themselves to the English custome 2. Because Wales was antiently divided but into three great Provinces Northwales Powis and South-wales and was not modelled into Shires according to the modern division till the raign of K. Henry the eighth Of such therefore who succeed herein though no County of Wales perchance can say this man is mine Wales may avouch all these are ours Yet I doe not despair but that in due time this my Common may God willing be inclosed and fair Inclosures I assure you is an inriching to a Country I mean that having gained better intelligence from some Welsh Antiquaries whereof that Principality affordeth many these persons may be Un-general'd and impaled in their particular Counties Princes I confess there were many in this Principality but I crave leave to be excused from giving a list of their nativities They are so antient I know not where to begin and so many I
Extraction a Welch man immediately adding patria Herefordensis by his Country a Hereford-shire man We now for quietness sake resign him up wholly to the former Yet was he a Person worth contending for Lealand saith much in little of him when praising him to be Vir illustris Famâ Eraditione Religione He wrot severall Comments on Aristotle Peter Lumbard and the Revelalion He was chief of the Franciscans Convent in Hereford where he was buried in the raign of King Henry the fourth 1406. DAVID BOYS Let not Kent pretend unto him wherein his Surname is so Ancient and Numerous our Author assuring us of his British Extraction He studied in Oxford saith Lealand no less to his own Honour then the Profit of others reaping much benefit by his Books Having his Breeding at Oxford he had a Bounty for Cambridge and compassing the writings of John Barningham his Fellow-Carmelite he got them fairly transcribed in four Volumes and bestowed them on the Library in Cambridge where Bale beheld them in his Time He was very familiar understand it in a good way with Eleanor Cobham Dutchess of Gloucester whence we collect him at least a Parcell-Wickliffite Of the many books he wrot fain would I see that Intituled of Double Immortality whether intending thereby the Immortality of Soul and Body or of the Memory here and Soul hereafter I would likewise satisfie my self in his Book about the madness of the Hagarens whether the Mahometans be not ment thereby pretending themselves descended from Sarah when indeed they are the Issue of the Bond-woman He was Prefect of the Carmelites in Gloucester where he dyed 1450. Let me adde that his Surname is Latined Boethius and so Wales hath her David Boethius whom in some respects she may Vie with Hector Boethius of Scotland Since the Reformation Sir JOHN RHESE alias Ap Ryse Knight was born in Wales Noble by his Linage but more by his Learning He was well vers'd in the British Antiquities and would not leave a Hoof of his Countries Honour behind which could be brought up to go along with him Now so it was that Polydore Virgil that Proud Italian bare a Pique to the British for their Ancient Independency from the Pope Besides he could not so easily compass the Welch Records into his clutches that so he might send them the same way with many English Manuscripts which he had burnt to ashes This made him slight the Credit of Welch Authors whom oâ—… Sir John was a Zelot to assert being also a Champion to vindicate the story of King Arthur Besides he wrot a Treatise of the Eucharist and by the good words Bale bestoweth on him we believe him a Favorour of the Reformation flourishing under King Edward the sixth 1550. JOHN GRIFFIN was born in Wales first bred a Cistercian Friar in Hales-Abbey in Gloucester-shire After the dissolution of his Convent he became a Painfull and Profitable Preacher He suited the Pulpit with Sermons for all seasons having his Conciones Aestivales Brumales which he preached in English and wrot in Latine flourishing under King Edward the sixth Anno Domini 1550. HUGH BROUGHTON was born in Wales but very nigh unto Shrop-shire He used to speak much of his Gentility and of his Armes which were the Owles presaging as he said his Addiction to the study of Greek because those were the birds of Minerva and the Emblâ—…me of Athens I dare not deny his Gentile Extraction but it was probable that his Parents were fallen to great decay as by the ensuing story will appear When Mr. Barnard Gilpin that Apostolike man was going his annual journey to Oxford from his Living at Houghton in the North he spied by the way-side a Youth one while walking another while running of whom Mr. Gilpin demanded whence he came he answered out of Wales and that he was a going to Oxford with intent to be a Scholar Mr. Gilpin perceiving him pregnant in the Latine and having some smattering in the Greek Tongue carried him home to Houghton where being much improved in the Languages he sent him to Christs-colledge in Cambridge It was not long before his worth preferred him Fellow of the House This was that Broughton so famous for his skill in the Hebew a great Ornament of that University and who had been a greater had the heat of his Brain and Peremptoriness of his Judgement been tempered with more moderation being ready to quarrell with any who did not presently and perfectly imbrace his Opinions He wrote many books whereof one called The consent of times carrieth the generall commendation As his Industry was very Commendable so his Ingratitude must be condemned if it be true what I read that when Master Gilpin his Mecaenas by whose care and on whose cost he was bred till he was able to breed himself grew old he procured him to be troubled and molested by Doctor Barnes Bishop of Durham in expectation of his Parsonage as some shrewdly suspect At last he was fixed in the City of London where he taught many Citizens and their Apprentices the Hebrew Tongue He was much flocked after for his Preaching though his Sermons were generally on Subjects rather for Curiosity then Edification I conjecture his death to be about the year of our Lord 1600. HUGH HOLLAND was born in Wales and bred first a Scholar in Weâ—…minster then Fellow in Trinity-colledge in Cambridge No bad English but a most excellent Latine Poet. Indeed he was addicted to the New-old Religion New in comparison of Truth it self yet Old because confessed of long continuance He travailed beyond the Seas and in Italy conceiving himself without Ear-reach of the English let flie freely against the Credit of Queen Elizabeth Hence he went to Jerusalem though there he was not made or he would not own himself Knight of the 〈◊〉 In his return he touched at Constantinople where Sir Thomas Glover Embassador for King James called him to an account for his Scandalum Reginae at Rome and the former over freedome of his tongue cost him the confinement for a time in Prison Enlarged at last returning into England with his good parts bettered by learning and great learning increased with experience in travail he expected presently to be chosen Clerk of the Councell at least but preferment not answering his expectation he grumbled out the rest of his life in visible discontentment He made verses in description of the chief Cities in Europe wrot the Chronicle of Queen Elizabeths raign believe him older and wiser not railing as formerly and a book of the life of Master Camden all lying hid in private hands none publikely Printed This I observe the rather to prevent Plagearies that others may not impe their credit with stollen feathers and wrongfully with ease pretend to his painfull endeavours He had a competent estate in good Candle-rents in London and died about ' the beginning of the raign of King Charles The Farewell To take my Vale
of the Worthies of Wales General I refer the Reader for the rest to a Catalogue of their names set forth at the end of the Welch Dictionary Which Catalogue I was once resolved to Print as an Appendix to this Work till disswaded on this Consideration It being Printed in Welch in the re-printing whereof our Best English Correctors would be but bad Welch Corrupters and make a Mungrel Language more than departed from Babel or ever since was any where used And now we proceed to the Particular Shires of Wales ANGLESEY ANGLESEY Let us in the first place congratulate the Restitution of this Island to its ancient Latine Appellation â—…eeing it was in a fair way to forget its own Name of MONA which some filched from this and fixed on the Isle of Man pretending 1. The allusion in sound betwixt Man and Mona 2. The description thereof in Cesar placing it in the middle betwixt Ireland and Britain which position better agreeth to Man than Anglesey 3. The Authorities of many later Historians amongst whom Polydor Virgil and Hector Booetius But Dr. Humphrey Lluyd in his learned Letter to Ortelius most clearly demonstrateth this to be the true Mona and the Reason of Reasons doth evince the truth thereof taken from Tacitus reporting the Roman foot under Paulinus to have swum over from the continent of Britain to the Isle of Mona Now such swimming over with the Oars only of Arms and Legs ten Leagues at least to Man is utterly impossible which from Britain to Anglesey being hardly an Italian mile may though with much difficulty and danger half be performed ANGLESEY that is the English Island so called since conquered by our Countrymen is surrounded on all sides with the Irish Sea save on the South where a small Fret known by the peculiar name of Menai sundreth it from the Welsh Continent having twenty miles in the length and seventeen in the breadth thereof May the Inhabitants be like the land they live in which appears worse than it is seemingly barren and really fruitful affording plenty of good Wheat and to grind it Mill-stones These in the Greek Gospel are termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Asses Mill-stones either because Asses as Saint Hillary will have it used to draw them about before men taught the wind and water to do that work for them or because the lower Mill-stone was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Asse from the sluggishnesse thereof as always lying still Observe an opposition betwixt Artificial and Natural Mills I mean our mouths In the former the lower Mill-stone lieth always immoveable whilst in our mouths the upper Jaw alwayes standeth still and the nâ—…ther applyeth it self in constant motion thereunto Excellent Mill-stones are made in this Island When in motion in default of Grist to grinde they will fire one another so necessary is forraign imployment for active spirits to divert them from home-bred combustions The Wonders Before we begin on this plentiful Topick be it premised that I conceive the Author of that Dystick was too strait laced in his belief thus expressing himself Mira canaÌ„ nonÌ„ visa mihi sed cognita multis Sed nisi visa mihi non habitura fidem Wonders here by me are told To many men well known But till my eyes shall them behold Their truth I le never own For mine own part I conceive he that will not believe is unworthy to be believed and that it is an injury to deny credit to credible persons attesting as followeth There are divers Trees * dayly digged out of moist and marish places which are firm and fir for Timber They are as black within as Ebony and are used by the Carvers of that Country to Inlay Cupboards and other wooden utensils These Trees are branched into a double difficulty first how they came hither secondly how preserved here so long from putrefaction Some make the Pedegree of these Trees very ancient fetching them from Noahs flood then overturned with the force thereof Others conceive them out down by the Romans when conquering this Island and shaving away their woods the Covert of Rebellion Others apprehend them felled or rather falling of themselves their weight meeting with the waterish and failing foundation and it is more easie for one to confute the conjecture of others than to substitute a more rational in the room thereof But grant this first Knot in these Trees smoothed how they came hither a worse Knob remains to be plained how they are preserved sound so many Ages seeing moisture is the mother of corruption and such the ground wherein they are found Except any will say there is clammy bituminous substance about them like those in Lancashire which fenceth them from being corrupted I could adde to the wonder how Haste nuts are found under ground with sound kernels in them save it is fitter that the former difficulties be first conjured down before any new ones be raised up Proverbs Mon Mam Cymbry That is Anglesey is the Mother of Wales Not because bigger than Wales as Mothers alwayes are whilest their Children are infants being scarce one twentieth part thereof nor because as Parents alwayes ancienter than Wales which being an Island may be presumed junior to the Continent as probably made by the interruption of the Sea but because when other Counties faile she plentifully feedeth them with provision and is said to afford Corn enough to sustain all Wales Nor is she lesse happy in Cattel than Corn so that this Mother of Wales is in some sort a Nurse to England I have seen yearly great droves of fair Beasts brought thence and sold in Essex it self so that he who considers how much meat Anglesey spends will wonder that it spares any how much it spares that it spends any Crogging Crogging This Historical By-word for Proverb properly it is none we will consider First in the Original Secondly in the Use Thirdly in the Abuse thereof Originall In the reign of King Henry the second in his many expeditions against Wales one proved very unsuccessful wherein divers of his Camp were sent to essay a Passage over Offas ditch at Croggen-Castle These being prevented by the British were most of them slain and their graves hard by are to be discovered at this day Use. The English afterwards when having the Welsh at advantage used to say to them Crogging Crogging as a Provokative to revenge and disswasive to give them quarter As if the Romans on the like occasion should cry to the Carthaginians Cannae Cannae Abuse Continuance of time which assumeth to it self a liberty to pervert words from their primitive sense in ignorant mouths hath made it a disgraceful Attribute when the English are pleased to revile the Welsh though to speak plainly I conceive not how that word can import a foul disgracing of them first occasioned by their valiant defeating of us This By-word though Croggen-Castle is in Denbigh-shire being generally used all over
resumption thereof by Undertakers of as able Brains and Purses but more patience than the former as a hopeful fore-runner of better successe BRECKNOCK-SHIRE BRECKNOCK-SHIRE hath Radnor shire on the North Cardigan and Carmarthen-shires on the West 〈◊〉 shire on the South Hereford and Monmouth-shires on the East the length thereof being adjudged twenty eight the 〈◊〉 thereof twenty miles My Author saith that this County is not greatly to be praised or disliked of with which his Character the Natives thereof have no cause to be well pleased or much offended The plain truth is the fruitfulnesse of the Vallies therein maketh plentiful amends for the barrennesse of the Mountains and it is high time to give a check to the vulgar errour which falsely reporteth this County the worst in Wiles let it 〈◊〉 for me to say this is not it and which is it let others determine Nor doth it sound a little to the credit of this County that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chiefe Town thereof doth at this present afford the title of an Eartl to James Duke of Ormond the first that ever received that Digniry Above four hundred years since a Daughter of Gilbert and Maud Becket and Sister to Tho. Becket was by King Henry the second bestowed in marriage on one Butler an English Gentleman Him King Henry sent over into Ireland and endeavouring to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blood rewarded him wâ—…th large lands so that his posterity were created Earls of Ormond Now therefore we have cause to congratulate the return of this noble Family iâ—…to their Native Country of England and wish unto them the encrease of all 〈◊〉 therein Natural Commoditiâ—…s Otters Plenty of these Lutrae in Latine in Brecknock-meer A Creature that can dig and dive resident in the two clements of Earth and Water The 〈◊〉 where hee bites maketh his Teeth to mâ—…et and the Otter leaves little distance betwixt them He is as destructive to Fish as the VVoolf to Sheep See we here more is required to make fine Flesh than to have fine Feeding the Flesh of the Otter from his innate rankness being nought though his Diet be dainty I have seen a reclaimed Otter who in a quarter of an houre would present his Master with a brace of Carps Otter-VVooll is much used in the making of Beavers As Physicians have their Succedanea or Seconds which well supply the place of such Simples which the Patient cannot procure so the Otter is often in stead of the Bever since the BeaverTrade is much wasted in the West Indies their remnant retiring high into the Country and being harder to be taken Yea Otter-wooll is likely dayly to grow dearer if Prime Persons of the weaker Sex which is probable resume the wearing of Hais Brecknock-shire equalling her Neighbours in all General Commodities exceedeth them in Wonders In the Air. He that relateth Wonders walketh on the edge of an house if he be not careful of his footing down falls his credite this shall make me exact in using my Authors words informed by credible persons who had experimented it That their Cloaks Hats and Staves cast down from the top of an Hill called Mounch-denny or Cadier Arthur and the North-East Rock thereof would never fall but were with the air and wind still returned back and blown up again nor would any thing descend save a stone or some metalline substance No wonder that these should descend because besides the magnetical quality of the Earth their forcing of their way down is to be imputed to their united and intended gravity Now though a large cloak is much heavier than a little stone yet the weight thereof is diffused in several parts and fluttering above all of them are supported by the Clouds which are seen to rack much lower than the top of the Hill But now if in the like trial the like repercussion be not found from the toppes of other Mountains in Wales of equal or greater height we confesse our selves at an absolute losse and leave it to others to beat about to find a satisfactory answer Let me adde that waters in Scripture are divided into waters above and waters under the Firmament by the former men generally understand since the interpretation thereof relating to Coelum Aqueum is exploded by the judicious the water ingendred in the Clouds If so time was when the waters beneath were higher than the waters above namely in Noahs flood when the waters prevailed fifteen Cubits above the tops of the Mountains In the Water When the Meer Llynsavathan lying within two miles of Brecknock hath her frozen Ice first broken it maketh a monstrous noise to the Astonishment of the hearers not unlike to Thunder But till we can give a good cause of the old Thunder and the power of his Thunder who can understand we will not adventure on the disquisition of this new one In the Earth Reader pardon me a word of Earthquakes in general Seneca beholds them most terrible because most unavoidable of all earthly dangers In other frights Tempest Lightning Thunder c. we shelter our selves in the bowels of the Earth which here from our safest refuge become our greatest danger I have learned from an able * Pen that the frequency and fearfulnesse of Earthquakes gave the first occasion to that passage in the Letany From sudden death good Lord deliver us Now to VVales The Inhabitants of this County have a constant Tradition that where now the Meer Llynsavathan spreadeth its waters stood a fair City till swallowed up by an Earthquake which is not improbable First because all the High-ways of this County do lead thither and it is not likely that the Loadstone of a bare Lake should attract so much Confluence Secondly Ptolomy placeth in this Tract the City Loventrium which all the care of Master Cambden could not recover by any ruines or report thereof and therefore likely to be drowned in this Poole The rather because Levenny is the name of the River râ—…nning through it Saints Saint KEYNE CANOCH CADOCK The first of these was a Woman here put highest by the curtesie of England the two later Men all three Saints and children to Braghan King builder and namer of Brecknock This King had four and twenty Daughters a jolly number and all of them Saints a greater happinesse though of them all the name onely of Saint Keyne surviveth to posterity Whether the said King was so fruitful in Sons and they as happy in Saintship I do not know onely meeting with these two Saint Canoch and Saint Cadock whereof the later is reported a Martyr all flourishing about the year of our Lord 492. and had in high veneration amongst the people of South-VVales I know not whether it be worth the reporting that there is in Cornwall near the Parish of St. Neots a Well arched over with the robes of four kinds of Trees VVithy Oak Elm and Ash dedicated to Saint Keyne aforesaid The reported vertue of
prius  14 Nich. Moor ar   The Farewell I understand that in January 1607. part of this County which they call the Moore sustained a great loss by the breaking in of the Severn sea caused by a violent South-west wind continuing for three dayes together I heartily desire the Inhabitants thereof may for the future be secured from all such dangerous inundations water being a good servant but bad master by his Providence who bindeth the sea in a girdle of sands and saith to the waves thereof Thus far shall ye go and no further PEMBROKE-SHIRE is surrounded on all sides with the Sea save on the North-East where it boundeth on Cardigan and East where it butteth on Carmarthen-shire A County abounding with all things necessary for mans livelihood and the East part thereof is the pleasantest place in all VVales which I durst not have said for fear of offence had not Giraldus their own Country-man affirmed it Nor is it less happy in Sea than in Land affording plenty of Fish especially about Tenby therefore commonly called Tenby-y-Piscoid which I rather observe for the vicinity of the British piscoid with the Latine piscosus for fishfull though never any pretended an affinity between the two Languages A part of this Country is peopled by Flemmings placed there by King Henry the first who was no less politick than charitable therein For such Flemmings being driven out of their own Country by an irruption of the Ocean were fixed here to defend the land given them against the Welsh and their Country is called little England beyond Wales This mindeth me of a passage betwixt a Welsh and English man the former boasting Wales in all respects beyond England to whom the other returned he had heard of an England beyond Wales but never of a Wales beyond England Natural Commodities Faulcons Very good are bred in this County of that kind they call Peregrines which very name speaks them to be no Indeginae but Forraigners at first lighting here by some casualty King Henry the second passing hence into Ireland cast off a Norway Goshawk at one of these but the Gos-hawk taken at the source by the Faulcon soon fell down at the Kings foot which performance in this ramage made him yearly afterward send hither for Eyesses These Hawkes Aeries not so called from building in the Air but from the French word Aire an Egge are many in the Rocks in this Shire Buildings For a sacred structure the Cathedral of Saint David is most eminent began by Bishop Peter in the raign of King John and finished by his Successors though having never seen it I can say little thereof But in one respect the roof thereof is higher than any in England and as high as any in Europe if the ancient absolute independent jurisdiction thereof be considered thus stated by an Authentick Author Episcopi Walliae à Menevensi Antistite sunt consecrati ipse similiter ab aliis tanquam suffraganeis est consecratus nulla penitus alii Ecclesiae facta professione vel subjectione The generality of which words must be construed to have reference as well to Rome as to Canterbury Saint Davids acknowledging subjection to neither till the reign of King Henry the first Princes HENRY TUTHAR Son to Edmund Earl of Richmond and Margaret his Lady was born at Pembroke in this County Anno Dom. In the reign of King Henry the sixth he was bred a Child at Court when a young man he lived an Exile in France where he so learned to live of a little that he contracted a habit of frugality which he did not depose till the day of his death Having vanquished King Richard the third in the battel of Bosorsth and married Elizabeth eldest Daughter to King Edward the fourth he reigned King of England by the name of Henry the seventh He is generally esteemed the wisest of our English Kings and yet many conceive that the Lord Bacon writing his life made him much wiser than he was picking more prudence out of his actions than the King himself was privy to therein and not content to allow him politick endeavoured to make him policy it self Yet many thiâ—…k hâ—…s judgemenâ—… 〈◊〉 him when refusing the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Columbus for the discovery of America who might therein have made a secret advenâ—…e without any prejudice to the râ—…putation of his wisdom But such his waâ—…ss he would not tamper with costly Contâ—…s though never â—…o probable to be gainful nor would he hazard a hook of Silver to catch a fish of Gold He was the first King who secretly sought to abaâ—…e the formidable greatness the Parent of many former Rebellions in the English â—…earage lessening their Dependencies countenaâ—…cing the Commons and encouraging the Yeomandry with provisions against Depopulations However â—…ereby he did not free his Successors from fear but only exchanged their care making the Commons who because more numerous less manageble more absolute and able in time to conâ—…est with Soveraignty He survived his Queen by whom he had the true Title to the Crown about five years Some will say that all that time he was King only by the Courtesie of England which I am sure he was loth to acknowledge Others say he held the Crown by Conquest which his Subjects were as unwilling to confess But let none dispute how hâ—… hâ—…ld seeing he held it having Pope Parliament Power Purse Success and some shadow of Succession on his side His greatest fault was grinding his Subjects with grievous exactions he was most magnificent in those Structures he hath left to posterity Amongst wâ—…ich his â—…evotion to God is most seen in two Chappels the one at Cambridge the other at Westminster his charity to the poor in the Hospital of the Savoy his Magnificence to himself in his own Monument of guilded Copper and his vanity to the World in building a Ship called the Great Harry of equal cost saith some with his Chappel which asterwards sunk into the Sea and vanished away in a moment He much imployed Bishops in his service finding them honest and able And here I request the judicious and learned Reader to help me at a dead liâ—… being posed with this passage written in his life by the Lord Verulam He did use to raise Bishops by steps that he might not lose the profits of the First fruits which by that course of gradation was multiplied Now I humbly conceive that the First fruits in the common acception of the word were in that age paid to the Pope and would fain be informed what By-FirstFruits these were the emolument whereof accrued to the Crown This politick King at his Palace of Richmond April 22. 1509. ended his life and was buried in the Magnificent Chappel aforesaid On the same token that he ordered by his last Will and Testament that none save such of the Blood Royal who should descend from his Loyns should be buried in that place
straitly forbidding any other of what Degree or Quality soever to be interred therein But only the Will of the King of Heaven doth stand inviolable whilest those of the most Potent earthly Princes are subject to be infringed Saints JUSTINIAN was a Noble Briton by birth who with his own inheritance built a Monastery in the Island of Ramsey in this County where many Monks lived happily under his discipline until three of them by the Devils instigation slew this Justinian in haâ—…red of his sanctity about the year of Christ 486. His body was brought with great veneration to Menevia and there interred by Saint David himself and since much famed with supposed Miracles Writers GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS whose Sir-name say some was Fitz-Girald say others was Barry and I believe the latter because he saith so himself in his Book De vita sua and was born at Tenby in this County His Father His Mother William de Barry an Englishman Angaâ—…eth the daughter of Nesta daughter of Rhese Prince of South-Wales He was Nephew to David the second Bishop of St. Davids by whom he was made Arch-Deacon of Brecknock He was wont to complain that the English did not love him because his Mother was a Welsh-woman and the Welsh did hate him because his Father was an English-man though by his excellent writings he deserved of England well of Wales better and of Ireland best of all making a Topographical description of all three But acting in the last as a Secretary under King John with great industry and expence Yea he was a great Traveller as far as Jerusalem it self and wrote De mirabilibus terrae Sanctae so that he might be styled Geraldus Anglicus Hibernicus Hierosolymitanus though it was his mind and modesty only to be Cambrensis One may justly wonder that having all Dimensions requisite to preferment his birth broad acquaintance deep learning long life living above seventy years he never attained to any considerable Dignity Hear how betwixt grief and anger he expresseth him self concerning his ill success at Court Irreparabili damno duo ferè lustra consumens nihil ab illis preter inanes vexationes 〈◊〉 veris promissa suscepi Indeed for a long timè no Preferment was proffered him above a beggerly Bishoprick in Ireland and at last the See of S. Davids was the highest place he attained Whilest some impute this to His Planet the malignant influence whereof hath blasted men of the most merit Pride some men counting it their due for preferment to court them and that it is enough for them to recive too much to reach after it Profitableness to be employed in meaner places Some having gotten an useful Servant love to wear him out in working and as Gardiners keep their hedges close cut that they may spread the broader maintain them mean that they may be the more industrious Giraldus himself tells us the true reason that he was ever beheld oculo novercali because being a Welsh-man by the surer side and then such the Antipathy of the English they thought no good could come out of Wales Sad that so worthy a man should poenas dare Patriae Matris suae Being at last as we have said made Bishop of Saint Davids he went to Rome and there stickled for an exemption of that his See from Canterbury whereby he highly offended Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury But Giraldus after long debates being rather over-born with Bribes than over-come in Cause returned re infecta died and was buried in his own Cathedral about the year 1215. The Farewell I know not what better to wish this County than that the Marle a great fertilizer of barren ground which it affordeth be daily encreased especially since Corn is in all probability likely to grow scarcer and scarcer that their land through Gods blessing being put in heart therewith may plentifully answer the desires of the Husbandman and hereafter repair the Penury of this with the Abundance for many succeeding years RADNOR-SHIRE RADNOR-SHIRE in British Sire Maiseveth in form three square is bounded on the North-West with Hereford-shire and on the South side separated by the River Wye with Breckneck-shire and on the North part thereof with Montgomery-shire Nature may seem to have chequered this County the East and South parts being fruitful whilest the North and West thereof lying rough and uneven with Mountains can hardly be bettered by the greatest pains and industry of the Husband man Yet is it indifferently well stored with woods and conveniently watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Meers Mr. Cambden telleth us that there is a place therein termed Melienith from the Mountains thereof being of a Yellowish colour which stretcheth from Offa Dike unto the River Wye which cutteth overthwart the West corner of this Shire where meeting with some stones which impede its motion on a sudden for want of ground to glide on hath a violent downfall which place is termed Raihader Gowy that is the Fall or Flood-gates of Wye Hereupon he supposeth it not improbable that the English men forged that word for the name of this Shire terming it Radnor-shire Princes HENRY of MONMOUTH so called from that well known Town wherein he was born hath his Character fixed here because formerly passed over in its proper place through the posting speed of the Press He was Son to King Henry the fourth by Mary one of the Daughters and Heirs of Humfrey de Bohun Earl of Herefoâ—…d and whom he succeeded on the Throne being the fifth of that name and began his raign March 20. Anno 1413. He cannot be excused from extravagancies in his Youth seeing the King his Father expelled him his Council substituting his younger Brother the Duke of Clarence President in his steed for the same Yet as those bodies prove most healthful which break out in their youth so was his soul the sounder for venting it self in its younger days For no sooner was his Father dead but he reclaimed himself and became a glory to his Country and a constant terror to his Enemies Yea he banished all his idle Companions from Court allowing them a competency for their subsistence When the Lord Chiefe Justice who had secured him when Prince for striking him for the commitment of some of his lewd Companions begg'd his Pardon for the same he not only forgave him but rewarded his Justice for distributing it without fear or partiality In his raign a Supplication was preferred that the Temporal Lands given to pious uses but abusively spent might have been seized to the King This was wisely awarded by Chichley Arch-Bishop of Canterbury by putting the King on the design of recovering France Yea this King by his valour reduced Charles the sixth King of France to such a condition that he in a manner resigned his Kingdom into his hand And here the French men found him as good or rather worse as his promise which he made to
For being with some other by this General for want of provisions left on land after many miseries they came to Mexico and he continued a Prisoner twenty three years viz Two years in Mexico one year in the Contractation-House in Civil another in the Inquisition-House in Triana twelve years in the Gallies four years with the Cross of St. Andrew on his back in the Everlasting-Prison and three years a drudge to Hernando de Soria to so high a summ did the Inventorie of his sufferings amount So much of his patience now see the end which the Lord made with him Whil'st enslaved to the aforesaid Hervando he was sent to Sea in a Flemish which was afterward taken by an English ship called the Galeon-Dudley and so was he safely landed at Portsmouth Decemb. the second 1590. And I believe lived not long after Sir WILLIAM MOUNSON Knight was extracted of an Antient Family in this Shire and was from his youth bred in Sea-Service wherein he attained to Great Perfection Queen Elizabeth having cleared Ireland of the Spanish Forces and desiring carefully to prevent a Relapse altered the Scaene of the War from Ireland to Spaine from Defending to Invading Sir Richard Leveson was Admiral our Sir William Vice-Admiral Anno 1602. These without drawing a Sword Killed Trading quite on the Coasts of Portugal no Vessels daring to goe in or out of their Harbours They had Intelligence of a Caract ready to land in Sisimbria which was of 1600 Tun richly laden out of the East-Indies and resolved to assault it though it seemed placed in an Invincible Posture Of it self it was a Gyant in Comparison to our Pigmy Ships and had in her three hundred Spanish Gentlemen the Marquess de Sancta Cruce lay hard by with thirteen Ships and all were secured under the Command of a Strong and well fortified Castle But nothing is Impossible to Mars valour and Gods blessing thereon After a â—…aire dispute which lasted for some houres with Sillogismes of fire and sword the Caract was Conquered the wealth taken therein amounting to the value of Ten Hundred Thousand Crownes of Portugal Account But though the Goods gotten therein might be valued the Good gained thereby was Inestimable for henceforward they beheld the English with admiring eyes and quitted their thoughts of Invasion This worthy Knight dyed about the mid'st of the Reign of King Iames. Writers This County hath afforded many partly because so large in it self partly because abounding with so many Monasteries whereof two Mitred ones Crowland and Bardney the Seminaries of many Learned men Not to speak of the Cathedral of Lincoln and Embrio University of Stamford wherein many had their Education Wherefore to pass by Faelix Crowlandensis Kimbertus Lindesius and others all of them not affording so much true History as will fill a hollow quill therewith we take notice of some principal ones and begin with GILBERT of HOLLAND He took his name not as others from a single Town but a great part of ground the third part of this Tripartite County which in my apprehension argues his Diligence in preaching thereabouts But quitting his Native Land he was invited by the famous St. Bernard to go to and live with him at Clarvaulx in Burgundy where he became his Scholar Some will prize a Crum of Forreign Praise before a Loafe of English commendation as subject to partiality to their own Countrymen Let such hear how Abbot Trithemius the German commendeth our Gilbert Vir erat in Scripturis Divinis Studiosus egregie doctus ingenio subtilis clarus eloquio The Poets feigâ—… that Hercules for a time supplyed the place of wearied Atlas in supporting the Heavens so our Gilbert was frequently substitute to St. Bernard continuing his Sermons where the other brake â—…ff from those words in lectulo meo per noctes c. unto the end of the book being forty six Sermons in style scarce discernable from St. Bernards He flourished anno Dom. 1200. and was buryed at Gistreaux in France ROGER of CROULAND was bred a Benedictine Monk therein and afterwards became Abbot of Friskney in this County He was the seventh man in order who wrote the Life of Thomas Becket Some will say his six elder Brethren left his Pen but a pitiful portion to whom it was impossible to present the Reader with any remarkable Novelty in so trite a subject But know that the pretended miracles of Becket daily multiplying the last Writer had the most matter in that kind He divided his book into seven Volumes and was full fifteen years in making of it from the last of King Richard the first to the fourteenth of King Iohn But whether this Elephantine Birth answered that proportion of time in the performance thereof let others decide He flourished anno Domini 1214. ELIASDE TREKINGHAM was born in this County at a Village so called as by the sequents will appear Ingulphus relateth that in the year of our Lord 870. in the Month of September Count Algar with others bid battle to the Danes in Kesteven a Third part of this County and worsted them killing three of their Kings whom the Danes buryed in a Village therein formerly called Laundon but after Trekingham Nor do I know any place to which the same name on the like accident can be applied except it be Alcaser in Africa where anno 1578. Sebastian the Portugal and two other Morish Kings were killed in one Battle I confess no such place as Trekingham appeareth at this day in any Catalogue of English Towns Whence I conclude it either a Parish some years since depoulated or never but a Churchlesse Village This Elias was a Monk of Peterborough Doctor of Divinity in Oxford a Learned man and great Lover of History writing himself a Chronicle from the year of our Lord 626 till 1270. at what time it is probable he deceased HUGO KIRKSTED was born at that well known Town in this County being bred a Benedictine-Cistercian-Bernardine A Cistercian is a Reformed Benedictine a Bernardine is a Reformed Cistercian so that our Hugh may charitably be presumed Pure as twice Refined He consulted one Serlo an aged man and one of his own Order and they both clubbing their pains and brains together made a Chronicle of the Cistercians from their first coming into England anno 1131. when Walter de Espeke founded their first Abby at Rivaax in York-shire Our Hugh did write Serlo did indict being almost an hundred years old so that his Memory was a perfect Chronicle of all remarkable Passages from the Beginning of his Order Our Hugo flourished anno Domini 1220. WILLIAM LIDLINGTON was born say some at that Village in Cambridge-shire at a Village so named in this County say others with whom I concur because he had his Education at Stamford He was by profession a Carmelite and became the Fifth Provincial of his Order in England Monasteries being multiplyed in that age Gerardus a Frenchman Master General
On the South 1. Cambridgeshire 3. Warwickshire 4. Lincolnshire 7. Bedfordshire 2. Huntingtonshire  5. Rutland 8. Buckinghamshire   6. Leicestershire 9. Oxfordshire It is as fruitful and populous as any in England insomuch that sixteen several Towns with their Churches have at one view been discovered therein by my eyes which I confess none of the best and God grant that those who are sharper sighted may hereafter never see fewer Sure I am there is as little wast ground in this as in any County in England no Mosses Mears Fells Heaths Whitering but a Beauty spot which elsewhere fill so many Shires with much emptiness Northamptonshire being an Apple without Core to be cut out or Rind to be pared away Northamptonshire challengeth that all the Rivers running through or by it are its Natives as bred in it which argueth the elevation and height of the ground thereof which I believe no other County in England can say Besides it lendeth two considerable Rivers Avon to Warwick and Cherwell to Oxfordshire The language of the common people is generally the best of any Shire in England A proof whereof when a Boy I received from a hand-labouring-man herein which since hath convinced my Judgement We speak I believe said he as good English any Shire in England because though in the singing Psalms some words are used to make the Meeter unknown to us yet the last translation of the Bible which no doubt was done by those learned men in the best English agreeth perfectly with the common speech of our Country Know Reader that Doctor Bowle my worthy friend and most skilful Botonographist hath taken notice of a Heath in this County nigh to Stamford whereof he giveth this commendation as fine a place for variety of rare Plants as ever I beheld Who I am sure hath seen in this kind as much both here and beyond the Seas as any of his age and profession Natural Commodities Now though this Shire shares as largely as any in those profits which are generall to England Grass Corn Cattle c. Yet it is most eminent for Salt-peter In latine Sal Petrae rather so called because exudat è petris it usually sweats out of rocks then because it is wrought up at the last to a rocky or a stony consistency Some conceive it utterly unknown to the ancients which learned Hoffman will not allow onely it was disguised unto them under the name of Sal nitrum though our modern use was unknown unto them that Pulvis nitrosus or Gun-powder might be made thereof It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what will easily take fire the best Test of the goodness thereof But why is Salt-peter common to all Counties insisted on in Northamptonshire Because most thereof is found in Dove-houses and most Dove-houses in this great Corn County Yet are not those Emblemes of innocency guilty in any degree of those destructions which are made by that which is made thereof All that I will adde of Salt-peter is this I have read in a learned Writer that Salt-peter-men when they have extracted Salt-peter out of a floor of earth one year within three or four years after they find more generated there and do work it over again Pigeons These of all fowls live most sociably in a Common-wealth together seeing their government is not as Bees Monarchical They are generally reported without gall understand it their gall is not sequestred into a distinct vessel as in other creatures Otherwise we find the effects thereof in their animosities among themselves whose Bills can peck as well as kiss as also if their Crops be not clearly drawn in the bitterness of their flesh They are most swift in flight and the steerage of their Tails conduceth much to their steddy mounting upright An envious man having caught his neighbours Pigeons in a Net feeding on his Stack pluck'd off their Tails and let them go Which though they could fly forward home yet were soon after found dead in the Dove coat famished for want of food as unable to fly up perpendicularly and so out at the Lover Pigeons against their wills keep one Lent for seaven weeks in the year betwixt the going out of the old and growing up of the new grain Probably our English would be found as docible and ingenious as the Turkish Pigeons which carry letters from Aleppo to Babilon if trained up accordingly But such practices by these Wingposts would spoil many a Foot-post living honestly by that painful vocation I find a grievous Indictment drawn up against the poor Pigeons for felony as the grand plunderers of grain in this Land My Author computing six and twenty thousand Dove-houses in England and Wales and allowing five hundred pair in each House four bushels yearly for each pair hath mounted the annual wast they make to an incredible sum And if the moity of his proportions hold true Doves may be accounted the causers of dearth and justly answer their Etimology in Hebrew Jonah which is deduced from a root signifying to spoil or to destroy The Advocates for Pigeons plead that they pick up such loose corn which otherwise would be lost and uselesly troden into the earth that probably Divine Providence which feedeth the fowls by some natural instinct directeth them to such grain which would be barren and fruitless that their dung incredibly fruitful for the manuring of ground abundantly recompenseth the spoil done by them However if Pigeons be guilty of so great stealth they satisfie the law for the same being generally kill'd for mans meat and a corrected-pigeon let blood under both wings is both pleasant and wholesome nourishment The Manufactures This County can boast of none worth naming whereof this the reason sufficient the fruitfulness thereof in Corn Grass and what not necessary for nature for it 's plentiful subsistance The Elder Brother who hath the inheritance of his own to maintain him need not to be bound an Apprentice let the younger turn Trades-man and inlarge his narrow portion by his inaustry It is enough for Northamptonshire to sell their Wooll whilst that other Countrys make cloath thereof I speak not this though it be my Native â—…ountry to praise Northamptonshire men for not using but that Northamptonshire men may praise God for not needing Manufactures However the Town of Northampton may be said to stand chiefly on other mens Leggs where if not the best the most and cheapest boots and stockens are bought in England I am credibly informed by a good friend that the Manufacture of Cloathing hath by prudent and able persons been endeavoured effectually understand me in design not success in this County and yet though fine their Wool their Cloath ran so coarse it could not be sold without loss Thus God hath innated every Country with a Peculiar Genius and when Art crosseth Nature neither succeed but both exceed where both concurre Buildings As Saint Peter hath the Primacy of all the other Apostles
a very great estate But what he got in few years he lost in fewer days since our Civil Warrs when the Parliament was pleased for reasons onely known to themselves to make him one of the examples of their severity excluding him pardon but permitting his departure beyond the seas where he dyed about the year 1650. Capitall Judges Sir NICHOLAS HYDE Knight was born at Warder in this County where his father in right of his wife had a long lease of that Castle from the family of the Arundels His father I say descended from an Antient Family in Cheshire a fortunate Gentleman in all his Children and more in his Grand-children some of his under-boughs out-growing the top-branch and younger children amongst whom Sir Nicholas in wealth and honour exceeding the heir of the family He was bred in the Middle-Temple and was made Sergeant at Law the first of February 1626. and on the eighth day following was sworn Lord Chief Justice of the Kings-bench succeeding in that Office next save one unto his Countryman Sir James Ley then alive and preferred Lord Treasurer born within two miles one of another and next of all unto Sir Randal Crew lately displaced Now though he entered on his place with some disadvantage Sir Randal being generally popular and though in those days it was hard for the same person to please Court and Country yet he discharged his office with laudable integrity and died 1631. Souldiers First for this County in general hear what an antient Author who wrot about the time of King Henry the second reporteth of it whose words are worthy of our translation and exposition Johannes Sarisburiensis de Nugis Curialium 6. cap. 18. Provincia Severiana quae moderno usu ac nomine ab incolis Wiltesira vocatur eodem jure sibi vendicat Cohortem Subsidiariam adjecta sibi Devonia Cornubia The Severian Province which by moderne use name is by the inhabitants called Wiltshire by the same right chalengeth to it self to have the Rere Devonshire and Cornwall being joyned unto it The Severian Province We thank our Author for expounding it Wiltshire otherwise we should have sought for it in the North near the Wall of Severus By the same right Viz. by which Kent claimeth to lead the Vanguard whereof formerly To have the Rere So translated by Mr. Selden from whom it is a sin to dissent in a Criticisme of Antiquity otherwise some would cavill it to be the Reserve Indeed the Rere is the basis and foundation of an Army and it is one of the chief of Divine promises The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward We read how the Romans placed their Triarii which were Veteran souldiers behind and the service was very sharp indeed cum res rediit ad Triarios We may say that these three Counties Wiltshire Devonshire and Cornwall are the Triarii of England yet so that in our Author Wiltshire appears as principal the others being added for its assistance Here I dare interpose nothing why the two interjected Counties betwixt Wilts and Devon viz. Dorset and Summerset are not mentioned which giveth me cause to conjecture them included in Devonia in the large acception thereof Now amongst the many worthy Souldiers which this County hath produced give me leave to take speciall notice of HENRY D'ANVERS His ensuing Epitaph on his Monument in the Church of Dantsey in this Shire will better acquaint the Reader with his deserts then any character which my Pen can give of him Hâ—…re lyeth the body of Henry Danvers second son to Sir John Danvers Knight and Dame Elizabeth Daughter and Co-heir to Nevill Lord Latimer He was born at Dantsey in the County of Wilts Jan. Anno Dom. 1573. being bred up partly in the Low-Country-Wars under Maurice Earl of Nassaw afterward Prince of Orenge and in many other military Actions of those times both by Sea and by Land He was made a Captain in the Wars of France and there Knighted for his good Service under Henry the fourth the then French King He was imployed as Leiutenant of the Horse and Serjeant Major of the whole Army in Ireland under Robert Earl of Essex and Charles Baron of Mountjoy in the Raign of Queen Elizabeth By King James the first he was made Baron of Dansey and Peer of this Realm as also Lord President of Munster and Governour of Guernsey By King Charles the first he was Created Earl of Danby made of his Privy Councell and Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter In his latter time by reason of imperfect health considerately declining more active Imployments full of Honours Wounds and Days he died Anno Domini 1643. Laus Deo For many years before St. George had not been more magnificently Mounted I mean the solemnity of his feast more sumptuously observed then when this Earl with the Earl of Morton were installed Knights of the Garter One might have there beheld the abridgment of English and Scotish in their Attendance The Scotish Earl like Zeuxis his Picture adorned with all Art and Costliness whilst our English Earl like the plain sheet of Apelles by the Gravity of his habit got the advantage of the Gallantry of his Corrival with judicious beholders He died without Issue in the beginning of our Civil Wars and by his Will made 1639. setled his large Estate on his hopefull Nephew Henry D'Anvers snatch'd away before fully of age to the great grief of all good men Writers OLIVER of MALMESBURY was saith my Author iâ—… ipsius Monasterii terratorio natus so that there being but few paces betwixt his cradle and that Convent he quickly came thither and became a Benedictine therein He was much addicted to Mathematicks and to judicial Astrology A great Comet happened in his age which he entertained with these expressions Venisti Venisti multis matribus lugendum malum Dudum te vidi sed multò jam terribilius Angliae minans prorsus excidium Art thou come Art thou come thou evil to be lamented by many mothers I saw thee long since but now thou art much more terrible threatning the English with utter destruction Nor did he much miss his mark herein for soon after the coming in of the Norman Conqueror deprived many English of their lives more of their laws and liberties till after many years by Gods goodness they were restored This Oliver having a mind to try the truth of Poeticall reports an facta vel ficta is said to have tied Wings to his hands and feet and taking his rise from a Tower in Malmesbury flew as they say a â—…rlong till something failing him down he fell and brake both his Thighs Pity is it but that Icarus-like he had not fallen into the water and then OLIVER OL'VARIS nomina fecit aquis I find the like Recorded in the Ecclesiastical History of Simon Magus flying from the Capitol in Rome high in the Ayre till at last by the Prayers of Saint Peter he